Don't they ever learn?
by Ichiyume
Summary: SEARCHING FOR A WAY SEQUEL RIGHT HERE! Okee, basically, a new company is taking energy from the life stream to ressurect Sephiroth, so its up to the new generation of AVALANCHE to kick their asses out of business!Last chapter is up!
1. The new generation of AVALANCHE

Hello reviewers from 'Searching for a way' and anyone else to the sequel a lot of you asked me to write! But I warn you all right now: If you haven't read 'Searching for a way', do not read this yet. Read Searching for a way before this or you will not understand anything! But basically, I'm gonna take it from where I left off with Kai and Anette, and I know that one of my reviewers wanted to see baby Anette, so I have a seen of her as a little one in mind to use at as a flashback. Well, enough with my ramblings! On with the fiction!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, Kai, and Anette. weeps

Anette flopped onto her bed with a happy sigh. Her 17th birthday party just ended and she felt like she could fly. She thought back to the one part of her party that she still couldn't get over.

FLASHBACK:

_"Hey Anette, can I talk to you for a sec?" Kai asked, pointing to the garden. She nodded and followed him out to the fruit trees. It was Anette's 17th birthday and she was as happy as could be. She only wanted for one thing more. Kai dug in his pocket and retrieved a small box. "Happy Birthday," He told her, a smile on his face._

_Anette was excited to say the least. She unwrapped it and found earrings inside. They were small silver flames, with rubies in the center of them. Anette took out her small hoops and replaced them with her new ones._

_"You know, this reminds me of when mom first got a birthday present from father," she said. "Only there was one slight difference." Kai cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? And what was that difference?" _

_Anette giggled. "This was," she said and pressed her lips against his in a firm kiss. Kai was shocked at first but then returned the kiss, putting his arms around her before they broke apart shortly after. _

_"Come on! We can't miss the whole party!" Anette exclaimed, taking Kai's hand in hers and pulling him forward. Kai smiled and caught up with her, giving her hand a small squeeze. And once more, two small stars gave off a temporary shine as they watched fate and time once more lapse to bring together two more people. _

END OF FLASHBACK

Anette got out of her party clothes and into a pair of jean shorts and a dark red tank top and went downstairs to get the place cleaned up so everyone wouldn't have to worry about it tomorrow morning. As she was finishing with the dishes and starting to scrub the counter she looked outside when she heard some soft humming. Kai was sitting on one of the boulders, gazing at the sky.

Anette grinned. After she quickly finished what she was doing, she decided that spending some time with Kai wouldn't be too bad. She walked out to meet him, her feet making a small pitter-patter sound as they hit the stone. Kai averted his gaze from the sky and turned it to her.

"Hi," she said, sitting on the boulder next to him. Kai put an arm around her. "Hey," He replied, letting her lean her head on his shoulder, the peach blossom scent of her waist long midnight black hair filling the air around him. "I thought you were going to bed," Kai told her.

Anette shook her head. "It didn't feel right to leave the kitchen a mess for the others to clean up tomorrow morning. Especially with the hangover uncle Cid is going to have!" The two laughed at this. Their gazes locked and the kissed softly, Anette's arms going around his neck.

Unbeknownst to them, Tifa and Yuffie saw the whole thing. It was on accident really, they just couldn't sleep and decided to pick what strawberries they had for tomorrow morning at breakfast. They came down and saw the kitchen cleaned up and a cleaning rag that looked to be tossed aside in a hurry. Tifa and Yuffie exchanged glances before going to the cupboard, grabbing a basket and heading out the door to find our couple on one of the boulders in mid kiss.

When the two broke apart from their kiss, Tifa and Yuffie couldn't help but giggle. That snapped the two out of their trance real fast. "Mom, can't we have some privacy, please?" The two groaned both bright red with embarrassment. "Well we were just coming down here to pick some strawberries," Yuffie confessed, her hands up in mock surrender. "We never expected to see our children sitting on one of the rocks, kissing each other like no tomorrow!" Anette turned even redder, as did Kai.

Anette sighed in defeat. Kai rubbed her back and gave her a small smile which she returned, her luminous white teeth showing. "Why don't we head inside? I was going to have a glass of tea and head to bed. Care to join me?" She asked Kai. He nodded and took her hand as they headed back inside. As soon as Tifa and Yuffie heard the door click signaling it was closed, they burst out in laughter, hugging their bellies.

"I knew it! I just knew those to would get together someday!" Tifa exclaimed. Yuffie was reduced to giggles, pushing her chocolate locks out of her face. She bent down to the strawberry bush and began inspecting the fruit to see which ones were ripe. "Well, it was sort of a given from the get-go. When Cloud wasn't training Kai, he was with Anette, and it was the same way with Anette and Vincent," Yuffie pointed out.

Tifa sighed happily and picked the fruit. After a glance at the stars, she continued her work and noted to plant more 'Aeris flowers' they now called them.

Oo00oO

Anette woke up at her usual time that morning, sunlight bathing her in a golden glow. After rising and stretching, she went about her usual routine and within a half hour, came downstairs in a yellow sundress that went to her knees, her usual red headband and her black boots. After a quick breakfast of toast and strawberries, she was out the door to her job at the local materia store.

"Morning Anette!" Marlene called from behind the counter. "Morning!" Anette responded, waving at her friend. "So I saw you and Kai disappear last night. Spill now or I will not hesitate to use force!" She threatened jokingly as Anette went about putting the materia in stock. She told her what happened and then showed the earrings and she squealed and gave Anette a hug. "It's about friggin' time! Do you have any idea how long we've been waiting for you two to finally hook up?"

Anette giggled before she registered the 'we' in the sentence. "Er, who else was thinking along those lines?" She asked nervously. Marlene pondered that before she counted out on her fingers, "Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie, Vincent, Papa, Cid, Denzel, me, and two little stars sitting in the sky."

Anette smiled and remembered what her mom told her. How when you die and someone you love is still alive, you become a star and watch over them. Her grandmother was always watching her. It seemed as if she could feel her presence out in the garden overlooking the stars.

"Hey! Enough squealing and get back to work!" A man yelled gruffly from behind the counter. The two sighed and obeyed their boss's orders.

Oo00oO

Kai went downstairs to find Anette already off to work. He sighed and picked up his buster sword and decided to go train. After heavy duty training he heard his mother call from the house, "Kai, get in here, something urgent is going on!" He bolted back to the house as fast as he could, thanking his father for the hell of running with 40 lb. weights on each limb to train him for the huge sword he carried.

"What, what is it?" he asked, red in the face and panting, droplets of sweat running down his face. Tifa pointed to the TV which showed a news report of a man making a speech. "And it is by this day that I declare the usage of the Lifestream from the planet as a safe material for fueling our cities once more. Although Shinra made mistakes in the past, the new company, Kyukan, promises to learn from these mistakes and execute different actions when drawing energy from the Lifestream!" The Speech ended with thunderous applause.

Kai couldn't believe his ears. Apparently, neither could everyone else who was watching, they just went unnoticed until now. They turned off the TV, grave looks on their faces. Kai knew how bad this was. He had heard his father tell him tales of his adventures as a child. But there was a slight problem.

Age was catching up. Cloud and Tifa did not practice as much and their strength was leaving them. His 'uncle Cid' was now seventy and couldn't fight period. Barrett was along the same lines. Yuffie was often times tired after only an hour of sparring, and even Vincent was slowing down. They all knew it and they all had no idea what to do.

"Hello? I'm home!" Anette's voice was heard ringing through the halls. She walked into the room and sensed the mood. "What's wrong?" She asked worried, pulling at the edge of her sundress nervously. Kai whispered what was going on in her ear and she gasped. "What are we going to do?" She asked bewildered, leaning herself on Kai, his arms wrapping around her soothingly.

"I think that maybe its time for the new generation of AVALANCHE to prove themselves against this new company," Nanaki suggested. Of all of the AVALANCHE crew, he was the only one that seemed to not slow down due to age. Kai and Anette looked at each other, Kai's blue pools gazing reassuringly down at Anette's red grey ones before they nodded confidently. "So it comes down to the new generation; Kai, Anette, Marlene, And Denzel. Though I think that you should go with them Nanaki, since you seem unaffected by age," Vincent brought up, Yuffie in his arms at his side.

"Mother, Father, I promise by the blades in my gun, that I will do what I can to stop them," Anette declared, arms at her side, chin raised in confidence and eyes showing unwavering determination. "You have four days to prepare," Cloud said, looking to his son with pride. "Before you depart, we shall see you off." The two nodded and went up to pack and ready themselves with supplies.

"I think some parting gifts to help the youngsters might be nice," Tifa thought out loud. Cloud nodded. "It's time Kai inherited my old buster sword," He said leaning his back against the wall. "And Anette's weapons will intimidate the townsfolk if seen, though she must carry them with her at all times. I think she will need my old cloak," Vincent pitched in a slight smile on his face.

"A buster sword is just as intimidating, no?" Yuffie asked her brow furrowed. "True, but it has been seen before by most people. Guns that fire ninja knives haven't been seen before since we are the ones that invented it, so it would scare more people," Vincent explained. Yuffie nodded her understanding thought of what to send the two off with.

Oo00oO

"Hey Denzel, get over here, its urgent," Kai said into the phone. "Ho? What's going on?" A casual, but concerned voice came from the speaker. Kai explained everything and within minutes the roar of a motorcycle was heard outside, coming to a stop.

There was the sound of steps coming up the stairs and Denzel was in Kai's room. Denzel hadn't changed too much as it goes to looks. At age 27, he stood about a head taller than Kai with his usual style chocolate brown hair, his green eyes always holding cheerfulness except for the darkest of situations.

"Er, what time do we leave?" Denzel said, pointing to a full pack on his back. Kai chuckled. "How do you pack so fast?" He asked with surprise. "Easy. I don't have much stuff in the first place," He answered. "Well, let me know when you are up for sparring. Anette is calling over Marlene," He told him. They all went through those four grueling days of preparation, until the time had finally come.

Vincent looked over his beloved cloak before he grabbed it with his human arm and headed down the hall. He kept on thinking back to his sweet little daughter . . . or at least the sweet little daughter when she was four years old. Although it was not shown much, he loved his daughter to the end of the world. And it was time to hand down the fate of the world to her.

FLASHBACK:

"_Hey Vincent, I'm going to go harvest some fruit with Tifa. Would you mind watching Anette for a while?" Yuffie asked a four year old Anette clutching her leg. Vincent nodded and the little girl went over to her father. _

"_Hello papa," She said cheerfully. Vincent smiled and let her climb up into his lap. Though she finally saw what he tired to hide from her. "Papa, your arm is all shiny," She said, running one of her small hands down his claw. Vincent sighed and inwardly punished himself for not covering it better. _

"_When your father was younger, a man used the planet's life to make your father a monster," He told her averting his gaze. Anette put her tiny hands on his face and turned him to look at her. "You are not a monster papa," She said firmly. "There aren't anymore meanies in your head, so you are not a monster." She spread her arms as far as she could around his neck and nuzzled into his cloak. "You are my papa. You aren't a monster. The meanie who did it to you is." And with that said she closed her eyes and started to sleep._

_Vincent smiled and gently put his arms around her, falling asleep himself. Anette reminded him so much of Yuffie. Although Anette and he had an uncanny resemblance, how she acted and everything was completely her mother. When Tifa and Yuffie came in with a basket full of peaches, they smiled wide at the sleeping two and sneaked past them quietly. _

END OF FLASHBACK

He arrived at the entrance seconds later to find the new generation waiting. Anette was wearing a simple black short sleeved shirt with a Celtic knot in the center of it, and was wearing khaki pants and black boots. Her waist long midnight hair was kept out of her face with the strip of headband cloth he gave her when her hair was getting long.

The other members of AVALANCHE were standing by with what they were to give in hand. Cloud stepped forward first buster sword in hand. "My dear son, this was my old sword that I used to defeat Sephiroth," He told him, offering it to him. "May it do its duty once more!" Kai nodded and took the sword, shouldering it on its broad side. Tifa was next, though she went to two of them. "These are what we call a PHS. We used these to stay in contact through our adventure, and Yuffie and Vincent's little adventure. You are to give us a daily call and let us know you are going through okay," She instructed. Kai and Anette nodded and took the device from her hands.

Barrett went up to Marlene next. "Well now my baby girl," He started, rummaging in his pockets. "Since all of us geezers can't go kick the ass of Kyukan, it goes to you four. And since ya'll are rookies, it's gonna be tough. Use this if one of ya'll get severely hurt." And out of his gigantic pocket he dug out a medical kit with mastered Cure 3, mastered Restore, mastered barrier, and lots of gauze and bandaging material. Marlene smiled wide and gave her father a hug before placing the medical kit in her pack and joining the others.

Nanaki went to Denzel next, and he bowed. (dog style bow, where they stretch out one paw and curl the other in.) "Unfortunately, all I can offer is that I assist you all in battle," He said and then joined the crowd. They all bowed their heads in respect to the fire lion. He was probably the wisest of the first generation of AVALANCHE. Yuffie went forward to Anette next.

"I think it's time you inherited this," She said and opened her palms to reveal the green string anklet with to silver charms hanging off it. A moon and a Wutaian flower. "This was my mother's anklet," Yuffie said, Anette gingerly taking the anklet. "It brought me luck in my journey. It might do the same for yours." Anette attached it to her ankle and nodded. It was now Vincent's turn.

"I have come to realize now that you aren't the little girl who I thought you were," He began. "It seems you have flourished to quite a strong young woman. The weapons you carry would intimidate any civilian from any city. Wear this, and they shall be hidden." He then pulled his cloak from behind him and Anette recognized it immediately.

"Are you sure you're willing to just give me your cloak? It seems wrong taking it when you have had it for so long," Anette said. Vincent shook his head. "You need it more than I do right now. It would create quite a stir if you are seen with those just completely in sight," He reminded her, gesturing to her weapons that were at her hips.

They truly did look deadly. They had ten ninja knives in a revolver around the barrel and the guns were 18 inches long at least. They truly would intimidate any one who didn't know what the five were going to do. Anette glanced at them, then the cloak before she nodded and took it from her father, buckling it on. She looked down at herself and smiled at her father, giving him a hug, in which he returned. "You better bring my daughter home to me safe, or you will regret it," Vincent said to Kai. Kai cringed, causing everyone to laugh.

"Don't worry father; I doubt that any of us will die," She said, trying to be reassuring, but everyone was thinking the same thing as her; this is a life or death adventure. Cait Sith was the last to come forward. "First of all, I'm giving you other two a PHS so you two can stay in contact as well," He stated, handing Marlene and Denzel a PHS each. "Second off, I have lots of dried fruit and jerky!" He cried, handing them a sack of food. "You always gotta have provisions right?" The cat inquired, the moogle took the position of thinking about something.

They all sighed and thanked him before turning and going out the door. "Goodbye!" They called to the house when they were a little bit out. Tifa waved and called out, "Come home as soon as you're done, okay?" Yuffie and the others waved their goodbyes, her leaning on Vincent, his arm rubbing her back reassuringly, his claw gently wrapped around her waist. "Don't worry," he told her soothingly. "Anette has grown to be quite strong. As has Kai, Marlene, and Denzel. They will be fine."

"I know it's just," She started, shifting in her position to wrap her arms around him. "I feel like she was still the four year old girl that I found asleep with you just last night, and now she's off to save the planet like us," She said looking up at him.

"I doubt she got thirteen years older in one night," Vincent stated, his gentle red eyes gently caressing Yuffie's worried storm ones. "Kai is looking after her. She will make it out okay." With that said, he leaned down and kissed her, the others having slipped away a little bit ago never knowing of this moment. His arms pulled her closer to him, deepening the kiss. Yuffie returned it gratefully, letting his tongue slide in her mouth. It was after a good few minutes before they broke apart.

Yuffie smiled up at him in her signature genuine smile that would make anyone's insides melt. And they kissed again.

Oo00oO

Kai, Anette, Marlene, Denzel, and Nanaki were at the top of a grassy hill, the sun rising, a ball of orange fire slipping over the horizon, bathing it in its warm glow. Anette stopped at the top of the hill and looked down to her home, to her sanctuary. Tears started to well in her eyes.

Kai turned around to find Anette standing at the top of the hill, gazing down at their home. "Hold up guys," He said. The others turned to see him jogging up the hill to Anette. Denzel and Marlene grinned madly. "Sis, did those two actually hook up?" Denzel inquired Marlene. She giggled. "Uh-huh. She and Kai are now a couple!" He gave a small laugh and then leaned his ear closer to the two to hear before getting smacked in the face with Nanaki's tail. "Don't you kids have anything better to do than to listen in on their love life?" He scolded.

Back with Kai and Anette . . .

"Hey, what's wrong?" Kai inquired, coming to Anette's side. She managed a sad smile. "Remember this hill? We used to come up here, just to watch the sun set," She reminisced. "This place has been our home for so long . . . it just hurts leaving it behind." She attempted to brush her tears away, but more were created. Kai hugged her close to him, trying to calm her.

"It's alright," He whispered to her. "We will make it back home. I promise." She looked up at him before she gently kissed him. Although she wished she could have stayed like that forever, there was a company going out of its mind. She pulled away and started down the hill. "Well, I guess we should get going," She said. Kai smiled and caught up with her.

"Now then, I hate to rush, but we must hurry if we don't want the planet to die," Nanaki stated. Anette's eyes gleamed with a new look as she walked with confidence down the road, Kai at her side always. It was there turn to save the planet.

Okee, I know this chappie is shorter than I usually write them, but I was only planning to go this far, so I must not disobey the plot! But to all of my loyal reviewers from Searching for a way, you know what to do. If you have read the first story I wrote, you know what to do. If you are reading the sequel before the first one, stop here and go read the other one otherwise your will be confused as hell. Well, please review!

ichi


	2. Hell Reborn

Hello and welcome, new and returning reviewers! Okee, before the show gets on the road, I must give a big thanks to The Red Hawk, who was recently dubbed my editor-grammar-checker-person (I think they are called betas.) So congrats and thank you! I also want to remind you that my next chapter is my annual 'mention all of my reviewers' chapter, so if you want me to mention you guys, make sure you review well, anyways, you probably want to read the fic, so here we go!

Disclaimer: I have $7.35. Does it look like I own Final Fantasy VII? (Though I wish it was only that much! Then I could own Vincent!)

"There!" Anette declared triumphantly, stepping away from the tent she just finished putting up. It was now past sunset, and the five decided to make camp for the night. They were now only one more day out from the next town. Marlene was unpacking that nights food while Kai and Denzel were out getting firewood, and Nanaki was standing guard incase enemies would try to invade camp.

"We're back!" Kai called, dropping an arm load of wood on the ground, Denzel had a few less pieces of wood and a few stones to keep the fire from spreading. After the bonfire was made, they all sat and ate dinner. Then Kai's PHS rang. He sighed. "I think we forgot to call everyone back home," He said.

Sure enough, when he turned it on, Tifa was seen. "Kai, I told you to call and let us know how things were going on a regular basis!" She scolded. He groaned. "Mom, I'm not a child anymore!" he protested. "I think we can all take care of ourselves now without having to call and give you an update every friggin' day!" The others agreed loud enough for Tifa to hear. She heaved a great sigh.

"Oh fine, just call if you ever need anything," Tifa said. They all waved their good byes and Kai turned off the PHS. "One of the things I was looking forward to was NOT having the adults around," He said, his back flopping on the soft grass. (By the way, they did clear out grass from where they put their fire, in case any of you are thinking, 'Isn't that going to start a fire?' well, back to the fic!)

"Don't think I will actually let you kids do anything," Nanaki reminded him sternly. Both Kai and Anette blushed furiously. "I didn't mean it like that!" Kai yelled, trying to regain his composure but miserably failing. The others couldn't help but burst out laughing at the sight of this. Both Kai and Anette were completely flustered. "Hey bro, I think Nanaki hit a nerve," Marlene said to Denzel between giggles. "I must agree with you sis, he does seem quite red in the face," He agreed, laughing as Kai turned even redder than the cloak Anette was wearing.

"Stop picking on me!" He cried indignantly, trying to cover his growing blush with his hands. Anette sighed and went over to him, gently rubbing his shoulder. "Alright guys, I think you've poked enough fun at him," She sighed, her eyes unmoving. They silenced when they saw how serious she was and nodded.

"Thanks," He muttered, offering a small smile. Anette smiled back and leaned her head on his shoulder as he put an arm around her and the group looked up to the sky. "You know, back in the days of the Ancients, people thought that stars were holes in the sky that led to heaven," Denzel said out of nowhere. Everyone looked at him. "Why do you bring this up now?" Nanaki inquired.

"Because," He stated. "If mom and dad are up there, they might be looking down on us now and helping us. That when someone becomes a star, they poke their own hole through the shadows of night just to watch over us and protect us. I always thought about that when I lived on the streets before Cloud and Tifa found me."

He paused, somewhat timid to go on at the thought of it. "It's alright Brother. There is no need to go further," Marlene said rubbing a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. Although they were not actual siblings by blood, she was so close to Denzel and even looked like him enough, whereas the two treated each other like brother and sister. After a long pause they went to their respective tents and slept for the next day to come, Nanaki taking the first watch.

When dawn came, Denzel woke up Nanaki first then he roused the others for the day. Less than an hour later, they were off once again. "Just curious, but what are we supposed to do to get this business to close down?" Anette asked. The others pondered this for a minute.

"Well, they are obviously going to reopen the mako reactors for harvesting energy," Kai thought aloud. "Maybe if we sneak in undetected and destroy the plant from the inside, then swiftly escape unnoticed, we could prevent them from sucking out the planet's energy and they would have no knowledge of who did it." The others nodded in agreement.

"But the company will still be around to rebuild them," Marlene pointed out. "It would just be endlessly destroying the plants, but if we found a way to take down the founder of the company or anyone else that might be involved that could take over." Everyone pondered this a bit.

"Though that seems a bit easy, and it has too much bloodshed for my tastes; we are supposed to save the world, which means the least amount of killing possible," Anette said. "I think the best way to go is to disable the mako reactors and find a way to try to solve this matter _verbally_. If they still don't listen to us, then we will use force." She spoke every word with thought and care. It surprised Kai how much she could decide on things with such confidence after so little time.

"Psh! As if those hard heads are going to listen to us!" Denzel said, lacing his fingers together at the back of his head. "But we can at least try, right?" Anette pleaded. Denzel sighed. "All I'm saying is that big shot business owners aren't gonna give a damn if the world dies as long as they get money."

"But still . . ." Anette persisted. "The reason we are saving the planet is to keep the one's who live on it alive. Unnecessary loss of life MUST be one of our top priorities in this." The others pondered what she said before Nanaki finally spoke. "I think that Anette proves quite a good point; we should try and talk them out of it. After all, the experience me and the rest of AVALANCHE went through with Sephiroth should be more than enough reason for them to stop. If they still do not listen, that is when we use force. Am I understood?"

They all nodded at him with the same profound respect. He caught up to take the lead. "The town should be just over this hill," He stated before picking up speed and heading up the hill. The others quickly followed, although Nanaki made it first due to having the advantage. But when they saw the town, their screams of delight and laughter were drowned out by Anette's heart throbbing scream.

The town was massacred. The buildings were torn to rubble. There were bloodstains everywhere. Dead bodies were strewn everywhere. Some were jumbled on one another as if the one on top had taken the blow to attempt saving the others life. Others were of innocent children fallen on the ground, never to get up again. Some were locked together in a lover's last embrace. But what really disgusted Anette was the sight of an infant, no more than a few days old with a knife in its head. She couldn't take the sight of this. After moving to the side of the hill she promptly vomited her breakfast.

Kai was at her side immediately, holding her hair out of the way. When she was done she was doing all she could to hold back tears. Kai drew her into a soothing embrace, stroking her hair. "It's okay. Just let it all out," He cooed softly. That was all Anette needed to hear before she let out her tears of sadness, of rage, of vulnerability.

Denzel and Marlene weren't taking this easy either. Marlene had fallen to her knees, small drops of water welling in her own eyes. Denzel was fighting back tears of his own, but he held strong for Marlene. He got down and rubbed her back in a small circle. She threw her arms around his neck, seeking shelter from this hellish nightmare.

Nanaki looked between the four of them and decided that the best thing to do was to let them mourn for a bit before investigating. After a half hour, the sobs subsided to small hiccups. "Come," he commanded the four of them. "We must check below for survivors or possibly a hint as to what monsters would have done this." As controlling of his emotions as Nanaki was, his voice was seething with rage, his eyes wild with anger and hatred for he who did this crime.

Anette still held on to Kai as they made their way down into the town, her cloak pooling around the two of them in the wind. The looked through dozens of buildings, or at least what was left of them. Finally after an hour of searching, they found something. When they saw it, Kai was the one to vomit while Anette called the others over, helping Kai as she did so.

"Everyone! Get your asses over here, we just found something," She said, horror lodged in her already shaky voice. The others were there within seconds. Marlene gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. "This is unreal . . ." Denzel whispered, terrified. Nanaki grew more and more outraged with every step he took into the town her finally let out an earth shattering roar. If you had actually been there, you would have wet your pants and run for your life.

The thing they were horrified of was seeing a dead man by a wall, his body having a few holes in it and most likely died of blood loss. On the wall it looks like he tried to write something in blood. The best that was made out was the following:

_It came . . . wiped out village_

_Just one guy . . . did this_

_He . . . with Kyukan_

_Name . . . Sephiro- _

The message trailed off from there. But they all looked at it, horrified. Kyukan went and did the stupidest possible thing in the entire god damn world. They brought back Sephiroth.

"How the hell are we supposed to defeat Sephiroth?" Marlene demanded desperately. "Nanaki, please! What can we do?" Her eyes were pleading with fear dripping from them in the form of tears. The great fire beast sighed, digging his claws in the dirt.

"First, we must contact the others at home. Then we must continue our journey to the next town and see if any mako reactors are there. We cannot let this massacre shake us from our journey! Under no circumstances are we to hold back in battle for any reason! Am I understood?" Nanaki said, taking charge. The others looked at him and tried to gulp down tears before nodding.

Nanaki sighed. "I am sorry kids. I hoped that we would not see this along the way, but I guess it was inevitable. Anette, contacts the others, and everyone else, try and regain your composure. This is why we are fighting to put and end to this new foolish company." Anette nodded, wiped away tears and got up, taking out her PHS.

Yuffie came into view and when she saw Anette's tear strewn face, she immediately became concerned. "What is it sweetie?" She asked sympathetically. "The town we were supposed to stop in today is . . . is . . . god damned it, I can't even say it, just look!" She pointed the PHS to the whole town, even showing the poor infant and the wall with the writing on it. Yuffie paled and shrieked to the others, "Get down here now!" All of the AVALANCHE crew was there in a flash.

After they all saw, they were in just as bad condition as Anette was. Yuffie clung to Vincent, tears flowing down her face freely while he did what he could to comfort her. Tifa was in Cloud's arms, a horrified look on her face. Cloud was enraged. Everyone else was a mix of both Yuffie and Cloud's reaction.

"GOD $$ KYUKAN! WHAT THE # ( & ARE THEY DOING BRINGING BACK $ SEPHIROTH!" Cid demanded harshly. Anette shook her head. "I don't know what to do. My blade guns can only do so much . . . I don't know if we can take him," She said, averting her eyes to the ground.

"It's alright," Vincent told her calmly. "We all didn't think we had much of a chance of defeating him the first time, yet we did, did we not?" Anette wiped her eyes and nodded, lifting her chin and trying to harden herself over. "Understood father. I will use everything in my power to stop him," she said with newfound strength.

"Good luck to all you, because I assure you, will need it," Tifa told them. Anette nodded and ended the call. She gazed down at her friends who were either drying tears or washing out the taste of vomit from their mouth. "I think that the more we stay in this town, the harder it will be to move on," She said, trying to keep her mask of strength up. She refused to show anymore weakness from hear on out or at least try not to.

The others nodded and after retrieving their things, left the town. But before it was out of view they all stopped and turned to its direction. Anette pulled out one of her blade guns and aimed it at the city. "I swear to the souls of the people of this once great village that you WILL be avenged!" She cried, and pulled the trigger, letting one of her knives sail to the city. After replacing the lost knife, she put the gun back in its holster and the five marched on.

"If the next city wasn't massacred, its only two days out if we really keep at it," Nanaki stated. Anette nodded and walked forward with false strength, hiding her sorrow and fear. They did not camp until late at night and when they did, they were so tired from the whole day, they didn't even bother with tents. And nobody felt like eating. That night Marlene had the first watch, followed by Kai with the next watch. When Kai was woken up for his watch, he nodded and saw Anette shaking in her dreams.

Although he saw the frightened expression on her face, he had yet to see the true hell she was dreaming.

Oo00oO

_Anette found herself in a warm field with grass that went to her waist. At the time, everything seemed perfect. Then a huge crack burst in the field, the sky turned black with smoke, the warm sunlight gone. _

_Thousands of people were in the crack, all dead. They were burnt, bloody, beaten mercilessly before put out of their misery. A single man stood amongst the dead that were actually alive. He had long platinum hair and an even longer sword called the Masamune, which was drenched in the blood of the innocent victims that died at his hands._

"_Have you come to offer your life to me as well?" He asked in a sing song voice, his eyes alight with the pleasure of all that he has killed. _

"_You bastard! I came here to stop you!" Anette screamed at him. _

_Sephiroth laughed. "Don't fool me child. I know that all of this 'strength' is just a disguise! A small set up to hide how you really feel!" _

"_Sh-shut up! Just shut up! You don't know me!" She cried with rage. _

"_Then allow me to kill you so I can get to know you . . . what your stomach looks like, how strong your muscles are . . ." Sephiroth offered, a mad glint in his eyes. _

"_Not if I kill you first!" She screamed and fired two knives at him. They bounced off him as if they were just wads of paper. _

_He suddenly disappeared then reappeared behind her. "You know, I like you. You seem to have a lot of . . . FIGHT in you," He cooed maniacally, the hilt of the Masamune rubbing her back. "I might as well 'take' you before I give you the pleasure of death!" _

"_NO!" She shrieked. _

Oo00oO

"NO!" Anette cried, sitting bolt upright. Everyone sat up afterwards, looking at her curiously. "What, what is it?" Nanaki grunted, alert from waking up. Anette was heavily panting, cold sweat running down her dead white skin. "It's nothing, just a dream," She said quietly. The others exchanged looks but they didn't know what to do besides nod and go back to sleep. But that did not include Kai.

"Now, now, what went on in your night mare, and do not try to fool me; I know it isn't nothing or you wouldn't be screaming and waking up how you did," Kai said soothingly, bringing her close to him. Anette spilled out her dream and Kai just held her there, never moving, "It's alright. It's only a dream. I doubt that any of us would let that happen to you."

Anette's head was leaning against him over his heart, letting its steady beat sooth her fragile state. She closed her eyes and let her body go limp in Kai's arms. He smiled and kissed her forehead. Anette nuzzled closer in her dreamless sleep in response. And he just held her there until dawn, forever in his soothing embrace.

When they woke the next morning, it was Marlene who woke first. She noticed the two curled up together and did her best to suppress a giggle. She quietly woke up Denzel and pointed to them, a wild grin on her face. Denzel returned the grin, putting a hand on her shoulder. When Nanaki roused, he whapped both across the face with his flaming tail. "OW! What the friggin' hell was that for?" Denzel yelled, rubbing his sore face. Kai and Anette were awake after that.

"Huh? What's up now?" Anette asked groggily. Kai roused a bit after and when the two looked at their position, they blushed profusely and got off each other, understanding immediately. "Thanks Naki," Kai said gratefully. Nanaki chuckled.

"I have a nickname now?" He inquired. Kai sighed. "Saying 'Nanaki' all the time is too much of a mouthful," He said, stretching out a bit. "Naki is alright with you, right?" 'Naki' nodded and the crew went about their daily business. But before they set off, both Kai and Anette flicked Marlene and Denzel in the head. "Oh my freaking god, will everyone stop hitting us on the head?" Denzel pleaded, rubbing his head. "Will you stop eavesdropping on us when we have a 'moment'?" Anette asked. The two sighed.

"Fine, take all of the fun out of it!" Marlene said a small joking pout enlaiden on her face. They all laughed, trying to forget the sorrow they faced the day before. The next few days passed smoothly and they were all relieved to see the town happy and busy two days later. After checking in the hotel, Anette flopped on one of the beds with a happy sigh. Marlene followed in after. When one of the guys tried to come in to, Marlene booted them out and told them, "Nuh-uh, this is the girls' room. You three get the one down the hall." And proceeded to shut the door.

Kai heaved a great sigh. He never expected to share a room with Anette, but when she was curled up with him that night, this powerful and wonderful feeling he couldn't just discard. If it weren't for Denzel's loud objection to being hit on the head, he would have stayed like that forever. And there was also the issue of home. With every passing day and each battle with monsters, he thinks back and misses his home more and more often. And this feeling continued to grow, nurturing itself of how many memories he had at that home with Anette. And as they grew, he felt like he was gonna burst. Anette somehow changed that feeling within him.

_But why? What is this . . . foreign feeling inside me?_ Part of him thought. _It's like whenever she just smiles, I get slightly nervous. And every time I so much as glance at her, her expression can bring back a memory of home. Gah! A warm shower might put these thoughts at ease . . ._

With that thought in mind, he grabbed fresh clothing once in his room and headed in the bathroom before Denzel could ask to have the first shower.

GIRL'S ROOM

"So Anette, what do yah wanna do?" Marlene asked, flopping on her bed, her feet swinging back and forth, her head held up by her hands. Anette pondered this for a while. "I was thinking about checking the town for a mako reactor; they may have raised Sephiroth, but its better that we take out as many mako reactors as possible to minimize the amount of Lifestream sucked from the world," She said, getting up and grabbing some fresh clothing and removing her cloak.

"I'm gonna go take a shower," She said before skipping off to the shower room. Marlene sighed. "And I was gonna ask for the first one," She whispered before giggling.

Oo00oO

Anette heaved a sigh of content when she felt the hot water run down her sore body. All the monsters they had fought and what they saw earlier took a huge toll on her body. But her confidence in being able to defeat Sephiroth as been shaken to almost nothing because of her dreams when it was already quite small.

Her face wriggled as she fought the urge to cry. She had to stay strong. For Cloud and Tifa. For her father and mother. And most of all, for Kai. She rested her head and her hands on the wall of the shower. It felt cold and hard at first, but after a second, it suddenly felt like it was emanating a strange heat that she welcomed. She closed her eyes and just stayed like that for a few minutes.

Oo00oO

Kai kept his eyes closed, letting the soft pitter patter of the water hitting his back sooth his thoughts. He was still bugged by these emotions. _Am I . . . homesick? It must explain why I think of home so often, but what does Anette have to do with that? Sure, we grew up together, but when you think of it, there is another emotion I am not familiar with hidden there but what? _

He sighed and defeat, then leaned his head on the wall, his palms flat on the wall too. He felt the same brief cold sting as Anette, but then he felt this sudden, familiar warmth come from it and stayed like that, his thoughts leaving him. But little did either Kai or Anette know they were leaning against one another with a wall between them, their body heat and emotions seeping through the wall in attempt to reach the other soul.

After five minutes of leaning on the wall like that, Kai heard banging on the door. "Kai! You're taking forever, and I want to shower too!" He heard Denzel whine from the other end. He heaved a great sigh and quickly finished up, then came out drying his hair with a towel as they still tried to spike up. Denzel looked at him curiously. "It naturally spikes up? I thought you used gel on it to make it spike!"

Kai chuckled and shook his head before throwing the other clean towel from the bathroom at him. "If you were going to kick me out early so you could shower, get on it or I could have stayed in longer," Kai told him. Denzel sighed. "Sometimes I wonder which on of us the older guy is," He stated before walking into the bathroom and closing the door.

After an hour, the whole crew except for Nanaki was gathered in the room the guys were sharing. "Hey, where's Naki?" Kai inquired. As if on cue, the fire beast walked in, an evil grin on his face. "I found a mako reactor," He stated. The others grinned wildly. "Okay then, I thinks we know what to do, right?" Anette whispered. This was time to give Kyukan some payback for unleashing Sephiroth once again. And just before they walked out the door to the mako reactor, Kai and Anette felt some of the familiar warmth that they felt in the shower.

_Probably just from the humidity, _They thought. But they were still blind to realize, it was each other that was the heat.

Alright! The second chappie is done! Okee, I know that I said I would put some Vincent Yuffie action in, but it was centered on the new generation this chapter, though I assure you, the next chapter will have a page at least about Yuffie and Vincent! Well, tomorrow is September 15th, and MY 13TH BIRTHDAY! XD! So bonus cookie to all who review on my birthday! Well, gotta sleep. I will be uber busy tomorrow! Buh bye!

Ichi (p.s. don't forget that next chapter is the chapter where I mention my reviewers, so don't forget to review! Also I wanna thank my reviewers from last chapter! It's great to hear from you guys again! Love ya'll!)


	3. Bitter Sweet

Hi my awesomely awesome reviewers and readers! Well here it is! The chappie where I mention my reviewers. A big thank you to the following: Redlei, losttoxichope, okatu dreamer, Rockreaper, Hafaku, The Red Hawk, and Lord Makura. Thank you so much guys! Now then, I promised some Yuffentine action in this chapter, so yuffentine action you shall get! Oh yeah, if any of you are at all disappointed in the fact that I have yet to write the KH 2 fic (since that won the vote) but I have half the first chapter written so as soon as I am done with this story, I can get right to the next! Oh yeah, and a big thanks to my Beta, The Red Hawk. You've been great! Well, on with the show!

Disclaimer: I own Final Fantasy 7. No, really, I have a copy of the game in my room. Well, okay I don't OWN it, own it, but you get the picture.

The five travelers hid in the nearest shadow of a building, pressing themselves against the wall. It was now two days after they discovered the mako reactor they planned to destroy, and spent all this time finding weaknesses in it's design they could penetrate and planning how to get to the plant that, when damaged, could result in exploding the whole place.

But they had to do it perfectly, or they would blow with it. So they carefully devised a route inside the mako reactor by way of sewer, then they would sneak past the guards, kill the ones by the plant quietly, destroy the plant, and high-tail it out of the place before they could be recognized or blown to bits.

Kai looked each way before dubbing the streets clear and opening the way into the sewers in the middle of the street. A bile stench seeped in the air around them, making them all scrunch their nose in silent disgust. Nanaki jumped down and a few seconds later a soft 'splat' was heard. Denzel reluctantly followed, then Marlene.

Anette smiled quickly to Kai before she squeezed her eyes shut and jumped down the hold. She felt icky slime close in around her and then her feet felt ground under them, a layer of disgusting water above it going about to mid calf. Kai grabbed onto the railing inside (the others decided to be quick about it and jump), close up the lid and then dropped down with the others.

"Well, that wasn't too bad, was it?" Nanaki told the not-so-hopeful underlings, the smell clinging to their clothes. Anette walked forward, some green stuff in her eyes blocking some of her vision. "I don't know, I think I have some in my eyes," She said, trying to rub it out. Before any one could to anything, Nanaki jumped onto Anette and she slid a few feet after hitting the ground. "What the hell Nanaki?" She demanded, rubbing her newly road-rashed leg.

"Don't move!" He growled, not moving from his position as she struggled under him. "That goo is leaking from the mako reactor. It's a toxin that could make you go blind or worse!" Anette froze in an instant. Kai knelt beside her, digging out eye drops. "How many will we need?" Kai asked.

"Get three to start with. Thankfully we haven't give it much time to spread, so we can still catch it in time to keep it from affecting Anette at all," Nanaki said with wisdom and calmness, taking charge as the unofficial 'leader' that was dubbed the day the left. "We should also get some water to help rinse it out first and see how well that does."

Denzel and Marlene opened the med kit they brought in search of water. Sure enough, a small container of water was neatly set inside. "Will this do?" Marlene asked, holding up the bottle. Nanaki nodded and she went over to Anette. "Why won't you at least get off me? I won't move!" Anette pleaded to Nanaki, who was still sitting atop her dutifully. "Because this is going to sting, so you might squirm, therefore making our job harder. So I suggest you put up with it for just a little bit more," He told her firmly.

Anette gulped and bit her lower lip. If she screamed, Kyukan soldiers were bound to come running. Marlene carefully poured the water over her eyes and Nanaki might given and understatement when he said 'sting' it was more like a throbbing sting that feels as sharp as metal. She let out a small whimper, only a fraction of noise compared to if she wasn't biting back.

She tried to move out from under Nanaki, but he was too heavy. "Naki, you really have to lose some weight," She said bluntly, holding back the appearance of pain as best she could. Nanaki snorted. "My apologies miss if a fire lion is physically unable to weigh the same as a human, because if we did, we would die from mal nourishment."

Next were the eye drops. It felt amazing compared to the stinging the water had given. A hissing sound was heard and steam rose from the goo that melted away. She could now see clearly. After forcing Nanaki off her, she rubbed her eyes tentatively. No goo was left. She smiled gratefully at all of them, a small hint of a glare at Nanaki. "Come on! We can't lose too much more time," She said and walked down the sewer to the exit, the others close behind her.

When they finally reached the way out, Anette turned to Kai. "Give me a boost," She said, pointing to the door above them. Kai sighed and moved closer to her. Anette blushed several shades of red as he slid his arms around her waist, gave her a small kiss on the cheek, and hoisted her up onto his shoulder.

_Its amazing . . . she's so light. How much does she eat anyways? _Kai thought to himself. When all of Anette's weight rested on her hip bones, she felt a bit heavier, or at least enough to convince Kai she didn't starve herself. Her hands groped as high as they could and slid onto the handle. "Ready guys?" She asked. The others nodded in response, with the exception of Kai who in his current state was unable to, so instead he gazed at her in response. She opened the door the smallest bit to look through the crack and see if there were any guards. "Coast is clear," She whispered and slid up out of the door, forcing it open all the way.

She reached her hand down as far as she could and felt Kai's calloused hand grasp hers. She grasped onto it with her other hand and pulled him up. Next went Marlene, then Denzel. Nanaki backed up considerably, then bolted and jumped with amazing speed and grace. He landed with all four paws on the ground above. "They weren't joking when they said you were the only one that age hasn't slowed down, were they?" Denzel whispered, earning a whack in the face with his flaming tail. "Stay quiet you fool! And if they were joking, they wouldn't have sent me with you four!" He hissed to the boy.

Anette checked around the corner. She then stealthily crossed over to the pillar ahead of her, motioning for the others to follow. Marlene zipped across quietly. Nanaki followed, then Kai, and Denzel was about to go before he pointed behind them. The all listened and heard the clack of boots. Denzel pressed himself as low to the floor as he could before jumping up and holding himself against the ceiling.

Anette pulled out her guns and closed her eyes. A creamy orange colored peach blossom fell on her gun and glowed white. Suddenly, a storm of the blossoms whirled around them before they subsided and the guards came into view, talking casually like old friends. Anette forced the others against the wall with her arms, a hand over both Marlene and Kai's mouth, and held her breath. The others followed suit, sucking in air, and not daring to breathe until the guards passed.

After a bit, Denzel dropped to the floor and rolled to avoid noise. The others let out their breath in relief. The orange blossoms glowed white and whirled around them once more and they came into view.

"That was close . . ." Anette whispered, leaning against the wall in relief, letting her arms fall to her side. She then put her guns away and hid them with the cloak. Her father drilled into her every time they trained: "Ambush is the greatest weapon because it leaves your enemy completely vulnerable."

"What was that?" Kai asked quietly. "No time to explain now. I'll tell you when we get back to the inn, okay?" She hissed. He nodded and they continued on their way. After much stealthing, hiding, and close calls with guards, they found what they were looking for. A huge machine with a massive tank of lively, green fluid inside was in the center of a room that was immensely enormous. The others were awestricken. Thankfully, Nanaki snapped them out of it.

"Last I checked, the Lifestream isn't keen on being bottled up like that," He said before they bounded down to the generator. They stealthed along the wall, aware of two guards that guarded the mako reactor. "I'll take care of these two," Anette whispered. She pulled out both her guns and disappeared in her whirlwind of blossoms.

"Hey, I think I saw something," one of the guards said uneasily. Just then Anette reappeared right between both men and fired directly into them, killing both. Afterwards she looked at the two men, then at the blood, and then her weapons. She had just killed two people. Her hands shook as she put away her guns, her skin gone white.

The others came out with weapons drawn incase others came. Marlene had three huge, sharp blades hanging down from one long, strong ribbon, while Denzel had a bow and arrows, but the bow had to long, sharp blades at the end, to be used in close range if need be. Kai had his buster sword out and Nanaki's claws were out and sharp.

"Anette, you alright?" Kai asked, seeing her struggle. She looked at the ground before regaining her composure and nodding to him, offering a weak smile. She then drew her guns out once more and backed up. They had learned what material the reactor was made of and had a set plan of attack order that would weaken it most. First Nanaki used his claw and teeth and raked them over the metal, using the fire of his tail to soften it. Marlene swung her blade in a wide arc and kept spinning with momentum until three gashes were easily seen in it.

She slowed to a stop, steadied herself a bit, and then got out of the way for the next round. Anette fired a round of knives, leaving numerous holes in the reactor. Denzel took three arrows and loaded them in the bow, steadying his gaze to take perfect aim. All three went sailing perfectly on target, hitting the most vulnerable points seen, causing some static to rupture. Kai ran forward and stabbed it deep with his buster sword.

The mako reactor looked ready to collapse, ready to blow any second. They put away their weapons and ran out as quietly as they could, sometimes having to use Anette's ability. Finally, they exited through the sewer to see the factory explode, the Lifestream pouring out and seeping into the ground, rushing life back to the planet gratefully. They quietly exited and went on the roof of the inn they were staying at and snuck back into their rooms, valor floating in their heads. They just saved a part of the planet. Although one member of the party was still distraught. When Anette got to the bathroom, she vomited whatever she had for dinner in the toilet.

"Hey, you okay?" Marlene asked, holding Anette's hair out of the way. Anette gave her a 'do-I-look-like-I'm-okay?' look and emptied out her stomach. "That was the first time you had to kill someone, wasn't it?" Anette nodded when she was done, washing out the acidic taste in her mouth.

"I would expect you feel horrible. I mean, we lived such a sheltered life, never having to fight or anything except for training and studies and what-not, you know?" Marlene said, offering a warm smile like how Yuffie always did whenever any of the kids had been distraught. "But it will be alright. You might have to get used to killing people, taking lives, because this journey will put our own lives on the line. But if we succeed, we will not only heal the planet, but heal lives; lost or not."

Anette forced a smile, and then settled on her bed. Their window slid open and Kai was in their room. "I heard vomiting, are you alright?" Kai asked with worry and concern in his voice as he gently stroked her hair from her face. Marlene giggled. "I'll be visiting Denzel and let you two have your little 'moment'," she said cheerfully and bounded out of the room towards the room next door.

The second she left, Anette threw her arms around Kai and whispered. "I killed someone Kai . . . I _killed _someone. It makes me feel like a monster." He put his arms around her delicate frame, kissing her forehead. "You are not a monster. These people sided with those who brought back Sephiroth. And we had no choice, else wise they would have alerted others and we would become wanted criminals."

"But still," She persisted. "It's going to be hard for you to understand until you actually kill someone yourself. Right now I just need some rest and quiet; just the way I am now, with someone I care about. That way, I know I'm not alone," She whispered, clinging to Kai.

He held her close in response, silently wishing that it wasn't her who had to kill the two men. If he could, he would take all her pain, all her sorrows, and shelter her within his arms forever. But by the looks of things, that wasn't happening any time soon with how much fighting lays ahead in their mission.

Oo00oO

Yuffie gazed to the shining sun as she picked some ripe peaches in the garden, a delicate wind blowing around her. Tifa was below her, picking plums from a lower branch on the tree to her right. Tifa's PHS rang, breaking Yuffie's cheerful humming.

"Yeah?" Tifa said, picking up her PHS. A grinning Denzel came into view. "We destroyed a mako reactor," He said with some pride in the back of his voice. Yuffie nearly fell off the tree in surprise, and Tifa had a similar reaction. "You WHAT?" The two screamed.

"It's true," Nanaki said, coming into view. "We decided that Kyukan had to pay for bringing back Sephiroth, so we took down the mako reactor without being seen or caught by anyone." Tifa and Yuffie were dumbstruck.

"Yeah, but last I checked this was really hard on Anette; she was the one to kill the two guards by the main plant, and now she's a wreck," Marlene interjected. "Not a few minutes ago, I was holding her hair out her face while she vomited. It was her first time having to kill someone."

"Maybe I should talk to her," Yuffie said worriedly. Denzel and Marlene exchanged glances and laughed. "That's okay. Kai is over there now and by the sound of it, he's managed to patch things up," Denzel said, a sly grin playing on his face.

Nanaki whapped him on the face with his flaming tail. "You know I wouldn't let those kids actually _do _anything. He just went to comfort her," Nanaki reminded him sternly. Marlene laughed and leaned on Denzel's shoulder. "Well, we should get going," Marlene said.

They bade their good byes and Tifa ended the call. Yuffie continued picking fruit, thinking of how their daughter had blossomed. She thought back to that day, when crimson clashed with grey for the first time.

FLASHBACK:

Yuffie hesitantly pushed the lid of the coffin off to reveal a six foot tall man resting within it. Her eyes widened slightly as she suppressed a scream. She never expected the man to open his eyes to reveal blood red pools. His red eyes clashed against her eyes, the look of innocence and purity sewn deep into her eyes.

The man had long, midnight black hair kept out of his face with a crimson bandana. He wore nothing but black except for a deep red cloak that had buckles going across it. A golden claw was in the place of his left arm. His skin was almost dead white.

"Who are you and what are you doing awakening me from my sleep of repentance?" The man demanded.

"Um, Spike, I think there is something here you need to see," Yuffie called to Cloud warily. The said spiky haired man came over to see what was up and nearly jumped.

The man averted his gaze on Yuffie and examined Cloud. He caught sight of his mako blue eyes and sighed. "You are Shinra scum to I presume?" He asked, sitting up slightly.

"My name is Cloud Strife; former SOLDIER," Cloud said, swinging his buster sword to rest on his shoulder. "Your eyes carry mako in them too. Or is there another explanation why they are glowing red in shadows?" Cloud inquired. Yuffie look back at the man and gasped. Sure enough, his eyes were glowing.

"Why do you disturb me when I am in repentance?" He asked, more than slightly annoyed. Cloud sighed. "Someone of great danger was supposed to be here, but alas," he said. His grip on the buster sword tightened at the very thought of the bastard that they were looking for.

Yuffie looked at the man with pleading eyes. "Have you seen a man around here named Sephiroth? Long platinum colored hair, even longer sword known as the Masamune?" She asked, her eyes locking with his once more.

Vincent glared back, almost making Yuffie want to look away. "Yes I know of a Sephiroth, but I have been in this casket for nearly thirty years. I do not wish to press the subject further!" He was about to close his coffin once more, but Yuffie blocked him.

"Please," She asked. "If you hate him as we do, join us. We mean to find him and kill him." The man still did not move. "As much as I resent him, I could never kill the child of Lucrecia . . . beautiful Lucrecia . . ."

"Wait – you mean that Sephiroth was born? Like a real human?" Yuffie asked, shocked. "I thought he was born through a Shinra test tube." The man was obviously getting aggravated. He tried once again to pull the lid back on his coffin, but something stopped him. That pure look in the girl called Yuffie's eyes. That innocence that could be so easily hurt, or battered. He sighed and stopped his effort to pull the lid over himself.

"You said you are searching to destroy Sephiroth?" He asked. Yuffie nodded. He sighed and rose from his coffin, towering over Yuffie. "Then I will accompany you if you persist so. Lucrecia, please forgive me," He said. Cloud smiled. He tried to clasp a hand on his shoulder in friendship, but the man backed away from it.

"Can I at least know your name?" Cloud asked, shrugging his shoulders in defeat.

"Vincent Valentine; former Turk," He said. Cloud led him to meet the others. On the way Yuffie strolled up next to him and asked, "Mind if I call yah Vinnie?"

END OF FLASHBACK

Yuffie walked back in the house with a basket full of peaches, an equally good harvest with Tifa and the plums behind her. Vincent was sitting at the couch reading the news paper, a proud smirk on his face. "What is it this time?" Yuffie asked sweetly, coming over to him. He pointed to an article titled _Mako Reactor destroyed. No suspects or evidence that it was arson. _

Yuffie grinned madly. "Those kids were trained well, weren't they?" Yuffie said, embracing Vincent, giving him a soft kiss, which he returned. "That they were Yuffie, that they were," He responded in content after they broke apart.

Oo00oO

"So, where do we go now?" Anette asked that night when the new AVALANCHE generation was gathered in one of the rooms.

"I remember father mentioning something about a ruined church with flowers in the center," Kai offered. Nanaki sighed.

"That would be Aeris's garden," Nanaki told him. "Uh, Aeris?" Anette asked. Suddenly, she remembers stories of a lady that traveled with her mother and father named Aeris.

"Oh, Aeris!" she said, finally realizing who he was talking about. "I remember mom telling me that we could still visit her by seeing her soul since it's bound to there. She might know what to do, so paying a visit doesn't sound bad."

"But just to let you know, where we are going is a bad end of town; worse than when you would make a wrong turn when you were little Anette," Nanaki warned them. Anette shuddered. A place that bad didn't sound like a picnic.

"Either way, she has traveled before hand. Kyukan has taken up the old Shinra headquarters, but that place is going to be ten times as well guarded, and we already struggled getting in and out of that place without being seen," Denzel pointed out.

"But what about Anette's ability with the peach blossoms?" Marlene asked. Anette shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry, but I can only hold it for so long. The longest I got to in practice was a few minutes. If anyone stopped to have a conversation, we would be screwed."

"By the way, you said you would explain how you can do that when we got back did you not?" Kai reminded her.

Anette sighed. "My mom told me that she had Ancient blood in her, that's why she has the ability to heal things without materia. That Ancient blood was passed onto me when I was born, so since I am part Ancient I have a few abilities, but nothing like Aeris; she was a pure Ancient, and I'm 1/16th Ancient at best."

Kai looked at her and smiled. "And you never told me?" He asked, putting an arm around her.

"I apologize for not telling anyone, but I knew that you would find out sooner or later and I felt like if I told you when we were all kids, you might think differently of me, so I waited to we were older."

"Well, either way, we ought to seek advice from Aeris; since she has such strong ties with the planet, she might be able to point us in the right direction," Nanaki said.

"When do we leave then?" Marlene asked.

"We leave tomorrow at daybreak, and then travel for two days to get to the Sector 5 slums," He informed them. Anette flinched.

"Let me know if anyone tries to pull something on you, got it?" Kai told her, putting an arm around her protectively. She laughed and returned the hug, looking up at the stars through the window. She smiled and closed her eyes, leaning on Kai. The others exchanged glances and after retreating to a corner to discuss something, exchanged Denzel's things with Anette's.

"Um, what are you doing?" Kai asked nervously. All three came up to him. Marlene was the first to speak.

"Well, we've been noticing more and more that every time you two accidentally fall asleep next to each other, the two of you have been happier in the day and are more focused." Denzel came up next.

"So we decided that if you two share a room in the inns, this might work to our advantage." Nanaki came up last.

"But if I catch you two doing _anything_, and that means, in the same bed naked, in the shower, etcetera, you know the penalties." His flaming tail rose to Kai's eye level dangerously. "I promised Vincent that I wouldn't let you do anything well _advanced _in your relationship while you two are out here." Kai gulped and nodded, gently stroking his hand up and down Anette's back.

"Well, see you two in the morning!" Marlene said and went out the door to the room across from them, followed by Nanaki and Denzel. After they exited, Kai breathed a big sigh in relief. He always knew Vincent was protective of Anette, but he only truly understood how protective he was until now.

He carried Anette over to the bed where her stuff laid next to and gently set her down, pulling a blanket over her. He kissed her forehead and then plopped on the bed to the left of her, falling into a blissful sleep.

"Rise and shine lovebirds!" Kai heard Denzel say. He popped open one eye and sure enough the feather brown haired man stood between the two beds. Anette was still asleep, her breath making her chest rise and fall rhythmically. Kai smiled.

"I'll wake her up Denzel," Kai said, rubbing his eyes. Denzel nodded and left the room. Kai went over to Anette and kissed her passionately. She stirred slightly and when she realized he was kissing her she smiled against him before returning the kiss, letting his arms go around her petite frame.

They broke apart shortly thereafter. "Good morning," he whispered. She nuzzled against his shoulder, her arms wrapping around his torso. "Morning," She replied cheerfully.

"Well, it's time to get up; if we really push it today, we might make it to the slums by nightfall," Kai informed her as the parted so Anette could get a fresh set of clothes and headed into the bathroom.

By the time the sun rose over the horizon, the five travelers had traveled a few miles. They pushed hard that day. After two small fights and 20 miles every few hours, they saw the slums over the horizon.

"Almost there," Anette whispered wearily. She hadn't kept at the pace they were at in ages! As they entered the slums, the sun was almost done slipping over the horizon. Anette could clearly see what Nanaki meant. Buildings were boarded up and run down. Some poor people were on the street, begging for money.

A few perverts were on one side of the street wolf whistling and saying rude remarks to every woman that passed them. Anette put her hand in Kai's, letting her crimson cloak pool around them. One of the guys wolf whistled enthusiastically at her and the other said, "Hey girly, come here and I'll protect yah." And then he tried to run his hand up her thigh. She quickly kicked his hand away, twirled one of her guns out and aimed it square between the eyes.

"I would prefer you not touch me sir," She said in a low, threatening tone. The man immediately backed off after seeing the inferno in her red grey eyes.

"Y'know, she looks like that big tall one we saw all those years back with that hot little ninja," one whispered. Though Anette didn't here; she and the others were already trying to find a slightly decent inn to stay at, trying to get away from the perverts.

"Are you positive I can't go back there and tear that guy to shreds?" Kai asked, his blue eyes alight with fury. Anette sighed and pulled him along, socketing her guns. "Yes, I am. Since he didn't persist further, its not going to help us if we continue beating him up."

After finding an inn and checking in, Anette and Kai went to the room they were supposed to share and when they saw it, their jaws dropped. The place was small and only had one bed. The two blushed profusely, but stowed their things by the bed and Anette went to the side closest to the window and started to sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Kai slept next to her, letting his body ease form a long day.

The next morning, the two rose and ate the provisions they had for breakfast; they didn't trust the food in the inn. Afterwards, they quickly set out to the church. After an hour of searching, they found it.

As they entered, Denzel and Marlene strode forward happily. "Come on! You have to meet auntie Aeris!" Marlene exclaimed. The two stayed by each other, but slightly quickened pace. When where feet touched the flowers in the center, the sun's rays intensified to nearly a blinding point. When it cleared to a point whereas they could open their eyes a girl with brown hair and green eyes in a pink dress stood before them.

"Nice to meet you! You look so much like your father!" The lady said cheerfully, examining Anette.

"Auntie!" Marlene cried, rushing to hug her. She was about to lose balance and fall, but she caught herself, one of her hands going through the image of Aeris. "Sorry," Marlene said, smiling sheepishly, giving her a hug even though it was just air. After she stepped back, she urged Anette to go up to Aeris. Anette hesitantly went up to her.

Aeris smiled. "You really are your father's child," She said. Anette looked her over. The woman was so pure, her emerald eyes had such innocence inside them, it was as if she was half angel.

Anette suddenly found herself crying. She hastily tried to wipe away the tears. "So you are Aeris? The one mom told me about when I was little?" Anette asked. Aeris nodded.

"We came here because a new organization is-"

"Sucking out the Lifestream, I know. I can feel it slipping away gradually every day. I know you came here to find out what to do, so this is what I think since the planet has been urging me to talk to one of you anyways. A good thing to do is to defeat Sephiroth first, then try and take down Kyukan. It isn't helping anybody if they die before the planet's life is back." Anette nodded.

"Well, this is a limited time thing, so I must be getting back," Aeris said. Anette cried out," No, don't go! I've only just met the person my mom told of my whole life, and now you disappear? Please, don't fade!" She ran out to stop the fading Aeris but only walked right through her and landed in the flower bed.

"Come back in a few months and say hi, okay?" They heard Aeris's voice ring through the church. Marlene sank to her knees, a small tear escaping her eye. Denzel rubbed her back reassuringly, just as Kai helped Anette.

"Come on," Nanaki told them. "The sooner we get rid of Sephiroth, the sooner we can stop Kyukan." He started to stride out of the church.

"Hey Kai," Anette whispered as the two walked out.

"Hm?" He inquired an arm protectively around her waist as they started to head into town to the inn. "Thanks," She said whole heartedly.

That night, she slept happily as a pink dressed woman stopped by to visit her in her dreams.

Okay, I am SO sorry for the uber-long update. Things have been so hectic lately, that I only got a chance to work on this yesterday. Well, please review and thanks so much for being patient. Buh bye!

ichi


	4. No longer bro and sis

Hello once again! Okee, so I hope you all liked the Yuffentine moment I put in there. I also want to give a nice big thanks to my beta, The Red Hawk. You're doing a great job so far! Another thing, I know a bunch of reviewers have been asking me 'Are you going to make Denzel and Marlene get together or are they just going to be like siblings to each other?' I apologize, but that info is TOP SECRET to everyone. You can guess and keep reading to see if you guessed right though. And my apologies if updates are a lot slower than when they were with 'Searching for a Way'. Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and stab the guy who invented school so we could sleep in till noon and write fan fiction all day. Well, on with the fic.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII. In fact, I haven't even played or even have Dirge of Cerberus yet, so I can't even say I own it, own it. In plus it's a SHOOTER! I mean, if they made it an RPG, I would be in love with it, but it's a first person shooter! DX well, beggars can't be choosers. grumbles

_Run into the tide _

_And stare down fate_

_Take hold of destiny,_

_Before it's too late_

_I'll spread my wings and soar in the sun_

_Maybe even fly by the cover of night_

_I've got my heart and I've got my gun_

_And staying caged up just ain't right_

_Just look at me_

_Set me free_

Anette softly sang to herself as she walked with the others to their next destination. They had left the sector 5 slums as quick as they could and was now taking a short-cut through a grassy plain that would get them closer to the main headquarters inside Midgar. It had a library's worth on mako energy information and what they could do to a) kill Sephiroth and b) shut down mako reactors a little safer; the Lifestream could have gone after them!

Marlene remembered the song from when they would help Tifa in the garden and joined with Anette.

_I've seen you day by day_

_Yet when I wave, you run away_

_Unlike the boy _

_I thought I once knew_

_Then I heard you say_

'_I can no longer stay' _

_And all I could think was back to that day_

_When you embraced me and said that everything is gonna be okay_

_Run into the tide_

_And stare down fate_

_Take hold of destiny _

_Before it's too late_

_I'll spread my wings and soar in the sun_

_Maybe even fly by the cover of night_

_I've got my heart and I've got my gun_

_And staying caged up just ain't right_

_Just look at me_

_Set me free_

_The day of tears finally came_

_Morning didn't feel the same_

_Then I told myself 'what am I doin' in bed?'_

_Time to stop running and face what I dread_

_And just before you left_

_I caught your hand and begged_

_Your not gonna be _

_The one I leave_

_You're the only chance of me_

_Ever flying free_

_Run into the tide_

_And stare down fate_

_Take hold of destiny_

_Before it's too late_

_I'll spread my wings and soar in the sun_

_Maybe even fly by the cover of night_

_I've got my heart, and I've got you_

_I'll go anywhere you lead me to_

_Just promise me _

_You'll set me free_

_Thanks to your love, _

_I'm as free as a dove_

_Floating in the shadows of the clouds_

_And every day I don't care if we run away_

_As long as the one I'm running beside, is you_

_Run into the tide _

_And stare down fate_

_Take hold of destiny _

_Before it's too late_

_I'll spread my wings and soar in the sun_

_Maybe even fly by the cover of night_

_I've got my heart and I've got my gun_

_Thanks to you, I've become_

_Free _

Denzel and Kai stared dumbstruck. "You actually remember the lullaby my mom taught you guys?" Kai asked in disbelief. Anette and Marlene laughed at his expression. "Well, yeah. It's my favorite song, always has been," Anette said shyly. Since no discussion topics had come up as they warded the grassy plains, she had just started singing, without even realizing it.

"In plus," Marlene added, twirling once in the grass before catching up with them. "It's how we remember home; by holding on to what we learned there so we never forget it." Anette smiled and nodded in agreement. Kai smiled back, hiding the pang of homesickness he felt. The last time he had seen Anette smile that genuinely was after she defeated him for the first time.

Afterwards she sang the chorus of that song, her arms spread like wings as wind gathered behind her. It was as if she was actually going to take off from the sky at any second. His smile started to fade; a different expression was starting to settle. Before Anette could ask him what was wrong, Denzel declared, "The day is almost over and this looks like a good place to rest."

"You okay Kai?" Anette asked, rubbing a hand on his shoulder. He forced a smile and nodded. She sighed and began setting up camp. That was just like him. Whenever something big was on his mind, Kai would never tell anyone, always trying to shoulder his burdens with everything else. And when she tried to find out, she just got 'I'm fine' as an answer. She decided to try and find out what was bugging him so much later.

The rest of the trip to Midgar was mostly silent, on the exception of the mornings or when they set up camp. When they got there, Anette's jaw dropped. This place was huge! Some of the towers went up to a point whereas she thought they would touch the sky, or at least where the sky would be. Instead of a blue sky, she saw a giant metal plate hovering over her, held up by the energy of a mako reactor.

"The information we need is in Shinra's headquarters, which is now run by Kyukan so we will have to sneak in," Nanaki told the others, walking ahead. Anette nodded and followed after along with the others. After checking into the inn and eating dinner, the five went outside and looked at the front entrance of the Kyukan headquarters after a long walk there.

"They are obviously just going to kick us out if we stroll in the front door," Anette said. "Maybe we should go a round-a-bout way, like some back stair case." The others nodded. "But we are going to need key cards and disguises for when we actually get in the building; I doubt they would let us just walk in if we aren't in uniform or don't have an employee card," Marlene pointed out.

"Well, I say we knock out a few guards, take their passes and uniforms, then we take the back stairs just in case, and then get in to access the library and look up what we need," Denzel said. They all decided on that plan and decided to get back to the inn before the sun disappeared over the horizon.

When Anette flopped on her bed, she stared out the window for a moment. "Hey, Kai?" She asked timidly. He looked up from cleaning his buster sword. "Yeah Anette?" he responded.

"I won't have to, well, kill anyone again, will I?" She asked, hiding her gaze. Kai sighed. "I don't know if you have to or not," He said, his eyes downcast. "We might have to kill a lot of people on this journey. But we can't let that shake us. I mean, they will either be trying to kill us or have gotten in the way to a point whereas if we don't kill them, Sephiroth will live on and Kyukan will suck all remaining life out of the planet."

Anette nodded. This didn't make her feel any better. She was so close to the people she killed that she felt them die. She felt their warm skin suddenly go cold as they fell to the floor, their skin going white. The sensation of feeling their warm life drain at her fingers was almost unbearable. She decided to fire off a little bit farther away next time, so she wouldn't feel them die. She sat up on her bed, curling up into a ball.

Kai went over and hugged her around the shoulders, kissing her reassuringly. "It's alright. We'll make it out fine," He whispered. Anette could have sworn she was flaming red right then. She leaned her head in the nape of his neck and thought back what Kai did to comfort her when they were kids, which was surprisingly similar.

FLASHBACK:

"Hey, what are you, half demon? Your eyes are red!" One boy mocked a four year old Anette who had gone outside to play. "And they have a half-glow when they are in the shadows! Just what is that all about, huh, demon-girl?"

"Stop it, leave me alone!" She shouted, squeezing her eyes shut so the boy wouldn't look at them to have a reason to say that. The boy kicked her and was about to hit her again when Kai came rushing in and put himself between that boy, still trying to balance the weight of the buster sword he was learning to use.

"Stay away from her if you know what's good for you," He said, his eyes blazing with fury. He took a step and swung his sword at the boy's side with the broad side, guaranteeing a bruise in the morning. The boy whimpered and scampered off like a stray dog, running down the street to get away from Anette's savior.

He turned around to find Anette curled up into a ball, small tears in her eyes. Kai set his sword down carefully, as not to harm her. "Hey, don't listen to what that jerk says," He told her, hugging her around the shoulders. She averted her eyes, scared about what he would think if he noticed how they gave a dull glow in the shadow she went to hid in.

"Come on now, I'm your friend, I don't care if your eyes glow red," He told her firmly. She reluctantly averted her gaze to meet his. Kai inspected them with interest. "You know, they look kind of pretty when they glow like that," He commented.

"Really?" Anette asked. Kai smiled and got up, offering a hand to help her up. "Really, really. For that kid to call you a demon is beyond me." Anette smiled and took his hand as he helped her up. "Well, I'm gonna ask papa about training too!" She exclaimed. "So I can defend myself someday!" She walked ahead of him but she paused and turned around to tell him, "But until then, my savior will come whenever I scream, right?"

Kai smiled at her and nodded. The two raced home only to be stopped midway by Cloud who had a huge buster sword. (A wooden one, don't worry, he's isn't gonna train Kai that hard when he's that young!) "The first day of training and you leave without warning?" Cloud asked curiously.

"Unkie, it's my fault," Anette said, guilt showing on her face. "A boy was calling me a demon 'cause of my eyes and he hurt me. Kai came and saved me because he heard me scream." Cloud raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Well, in that case I will let it slip, but try not to wander to far Anette. There are a ton of little boys out there that would do worse to you." Anette nodded and dashed off to see her mother.

"So you came running when you heard her scream?" Cloud inquired, shouldering his buster sword. Kai nodded. Cloud smiled and rubbed one hand in his son's equally spiky blonde hair. "Well, try to warn me before you run off like that," He scolded before they continued training. Kai sighed and ran ahead to the stone circle in the garden. He decided to train extra hard until he could be a certain someone's eternal savior.

END OF FLASHBACK

Anette smiled and kissed Kai, then came free from their embrace to settle on the bed. "Well, it won't help me any if I fall asleep mid-battle," She said, closing her eyes as she pulled one of the blankets around her. "Good night," She whispered. Kai smiled and gave a last pat on her shoulder before going off to bed himself. But neither person seemed to notice the small tube under the nightstand across from them in which two nosy companions had seen the whole moment.

Oo00oO

Denzel and Marlene pulled the 'stealth scope' from the hole they found and burst out laughing, falling on the floor from being squished in both of them wanting to see the 'moment'. Marlene poked Denzel and one poke soon led to a mock battle (if you ever had an older or younger sibling, you probably know what I mean. If you don't, ask and I shall explain!) By the time the two were done, they were locked in each other's attempt to block a blow, the proximity between the two surprisingly small. There was a small glint in Denzel's eyes that didn't escape Marlene.

"Uh, bro?" She whispered, a little uneasy. She loved Denzel dearly as a friend and as a soul brother since they were not brother and sister by blood, but did she really like him like _that?_ A lump settled in her throat and she could hear and feel her heart pound as if her life depended on it.

Denzel timidly started to lower his head to meet hers. Marlene's heart continued to pound, and ache in her chest, her stomach doing somersaults. Just as their lips barely grazed each other, the two heard the floor boards from outside creak and get louder as they neared the door.

"It's Naki!" Denzel whispered and immediately pulled away. When Nanaki entered, Denzel was on one bed reading a book he had previously abandoned to spy on Kai and Anette while Marlene was looking out the window at the town. Nanaki glanced between the two. "You two look a little red and you're panting. What were you doing up here?" he inquired.

"We were just having a mock fight to pass the time," Marlene blurted, a little afraid that Denzel would mention his advances on her. She then mentally slapped herself. This is Denzel we're talking about! He wouldn't just go around blurting things like that! But after that moment, she was really an emotional wreck. This . . . feeling she got as he was mere millimeters from her was so hard to describe . . . yet truly amazing. This whole thing just made her head swim in a river of new emotions, making her feel hazy.

"You look tired Marlene. You should get to sleep," Nanaki said, his eyes tracing over her confused and weary facial expressions. Marlene nodded and lay down on her bed closing her eyes, though she was at the time to warm to pull covers over her. An hour later, her hair was standing on end at the back of her neck and she shuddered in her sleep at the cold wind. Nanaki lay at one side of Denzel's bed, his paws twitching in 'puppy dreams' as nick named by Yuffie one time when they were traveling. Denzel quietly got up and pulled Marlene's covers over her shivering body, watching as she shifted uneasily in a dream.

"Rest well . . . Marlene," He whispered, brushing some of her feather brown locks out of her face, a small smile on his face. He went back to sleep shortly thereafter, dreaming his own sweet dreams as his mother and father overlooked them from the night sky, smiling wide, causing their star to gleam with happiness and pride.

Oo00oO

It was the next night and the plan was running smoothly. They had just 'borrowed' five uniforms from a band of employees that were currently unconscious in a closet. Anette shifted awkwardly, trying not to laugh at the sight of Nanaki on his hind legs, his tail sticking out. "What?" He asked, somewhat indignant. "It's not like I can keep my tail inside; it would burn the uniform and they would see my fur."

"Well, maybe you should just be down on all four until we get up there; if anyone asks, we'll just say you had one to many glasses of sake," Anette said loftily. They reached the back door.

"Just as a warning, the way up by stairs is going to take a while," Nanaki warned Kai and Denzel as they started trying to race each other up to the top as if it was just a game. "Oh come on! A few stairs aren't gonna kill us!" Kai replied airily, getting a lead over Denzel who was trying to recover the lead.

2 hours later . . .

"GOD FU#$ING DAMMIT, THERE ARE STILL STAIRS?" Denzel cried as they reached the next flight. He and Kai were now crawling on the floor. Anette laughed as she came up behind them and leaned down, swung one of Kai's arms over her shoulder, put an arm around his lower torso and carried him like that for the next few flights until he was rejuvenated enough to walk on his own. Marlene helped up Denzel and when she offered to do the same he shook his head, and told her, "I can't burden you with having to carry me around like a weak animal."

"Oh come on, you can lose the tough guy attitude for a few flights at least!" Marlene exclaimed, catching him as he started to fall. "You just ran fifty five hundred flights of stairs; your at least healthy," Marlene joked. He groaned and leaned against her, his arm winding around her.

_He just needs support; He just needs support _She told herself over and over again, blushing.

"Hey you okay there? You've been acting a bit strange of late," Denzel said. The others had now gone ahead, so they knew nothing of this talk they were having.

"Oh, I'm fine," Marlene said nervously. Denzel stumbled, though it seemed almost on purpose and Marlene ended up against the wall the corner on one side, and Denzel's left arm on the other side. "Am I making you nervous?" He asked, the proximity between them once again closing slowly, his head slowly coming down to meet hers. All of what Marlene felt earlier had returned one hundred-fold.

"Um . . ." was all she could manage. She took a gulp and prepared for the inevitable. But just before their lips met, they heard Anette calling, "You need help with Denzel? You're lagging behind." Denzel inwardly swore to himself. He came away from Marlene.

"Uh, can you walk okay?" She asked timidly, trying to break the tension in the air around them. "Yeah; thanks for helping me," He said, giving her a small smile before walking up to meet the others at the top. Thankfully none of them had actually seen him advancing on Marlene; they just called for them. To him, it was the perfect moment. When they were just finished with their mock fight and they had that close proximity, it was an almost uncontrollable urge rose in his body to just kiss her then and there. And he would have succeeded if Nanaki hadn't interrupted.

"Have to see if Naki can stay in Kai and Anette's room for one night," He muttered so it was even softer than a whisper in case Marlene would hear. They joined up with the others to find them all at the end of the stairs, Nanaki wobbling as he got used to walking on his two hind legs. "Finally an end to the stairs," Denzel sighed gratefully.

"Well, let's get on in; and if they are going to believe our alibi of Naki having too much to drink . . ." Anette whispered, taking out rubbing alcohol and cotton. Nanaki gagged at the scent. "Have you forgotten my sight and smell is thrice as sensitive as yours?" he reminded her. "Would you rather get caught?" Anette pointed out. So he grumbled, but put up with her dabbing some of his uniform in alcohol. When she was done, she put it away and slung one of his fore paws over her shoulder.

"Let's go guys," Kai whispered. He opened the door and the five entered, trying to seem as normal as they could. They took the I.D cards off the guards when they took the uniforms, but they didn't look completely like the people in the picture, especially Nanaki. They just hoped that nobody would try to look at there I.D cards. They were just about to reach the elevator when a superior guard behind them asked, "Where do you think your going?"

They froze in place. "My friend here has had one too many glasses of sake sir," Anette coughed out, gesturing to Nanaki. "We were going to take him up to the nap room to rest and hopefully help him get over hangover for duty which is in twelve hours." The man spotted his tail and looked at them suspiciously. "What's with the tail?" Anette tried to look as sad as possible. "A tragic mako accident sir. He was showered in too much and he became half man half dog." She tried to fake tears. "It is hard to bring it up sir," She wiped one of her eyes.

"Pull yourself together soldier!" He barked, shoving Anette. "Get that man up to the infirmary and deal with his alcohol consumption!"

"Yes sir," Anette said, saluting him as he passed. When he turned the corner they all let out a sigh in relief. "That was close," Kai breathed. Nanaki was under a gloom bubble at the moment. "I'm a fire lion and you say half dog . . ."

"Oh come off it! I had to say something!" Anette said, opening the elevator and hitting the switch to go to the 62nd floor where the library is. They heard a small 'ding' and the door swung open to reveal an abundance of rooms that held three promising bookshelves each. A short old man was strolling down the hall, an open book in hand, obviously lost in thought as he bumped into Kai.

"Oh, my apologies sir," He said in an old, frail voice. Anette came down to eye level with him, putting on as innocent a face as she could manage. "Excuse me sir, but would you happen to know where the information on mako energy plant blueprints and mako creatures would be?" The little man smirked evilly. "Why yes, I have a private library that is only reachable with my key card." He held it out in front of Anette as if he was taunting her. She reached out precariously and was just in reach of it when he snapped his hand back.

"But . . . you must guess the password! Get it right on the first time and you get a little bonus," He said, putting away his key card and scuttling away. "Oh man, I remember father saying something about this when I was little," Kai said, scratching his spiky head as he tried to think back. "Do you remember what the password is?" Anette asked. Kai shook his head. "I remember him telling me that he had to search through all the libraries to get it," he responded.

"Well, let's split up then!" Anette said. "I'll go search with Kai and Nanaki. Denzel, Marlene, try the first two. We can search the back two. After we are both done with those, we can search the last two rooms together." They all nodded and went their separate ways. Marlene nervously bit her lip and hoped that if Denzel did end up kissing her, the others wouldn't walk in or interrupt.

They both went in the same room to search for books. "Um, I'll check this one," Marlene said uneasily, rushing over to the book case to examine the title of the books. Something told her that the secret was one common word that showed up in every book somewhere or another. Denzel searched the shelf behind her. When she was done she got up too fast and, having that brief dizzy feeling, backed up and bumped into Denzel.

"Oh, sorry," She said, eyes downcast. She was about to check the other shelves when Denzel's hand shot out to stop her. "Your acting a bit different from your normal cheeriness," Denzel said knowingly, trying to see her face through her feather brown locks as they cascaded over her shoulders, held loosely at her back with her pink ribbon.

Marlene rubbed her forearm nervously. His hands slid to gently grasp her upper arms, searching for her face with his blue eyes. "Marlene, please look at me," He asked her gently. She squeezed her eyes shut momentarily. It was a dirty trick. If he had just said 'look at me' she would still have the option of keeping her head down, but if one of them actually pleaded, they would always do it. Her chocolate brown eyes looked up to be caught in his, unable to look away from his ocean blue pools.

Her heart leapt to her throat as he slowly brought his lips down to meet her in a firm kiss. At that second Marlene couldn't even describe the wonderful feeling that ran through her. It had felt like electricity raced from their kiss all over her body, leaving her knees feeling like they were going to quake any second and a tingling sensation all over that made her hands shake slightly.

Denzel's gentle grip on her arms released and wound around her waist, pulling her into him, deepening the kiss. His tongue slid into her mouth, scouting every inch of her mouth. Marlene's hands went around his neck and they stayed like that for a second, in pure ecstasy of the moment before breaking apart.

Marlene felt the electric feeling leave her, her knees held a little more strength. But it had all felt so wonderful; she couldn't even begin to describe the thunder in her heart. Her eyes went downcast again. Denzel gently rubbed her back. "Marlene," he cooed softly. She met his eyes once more and they kissed once again, just as passionate. After a few minutes, they heard the others calling, "You done yet?"

Now both Marlene and Denzel swore this time. They hated to end this moment, but it appeared they must. They broke apart and Marlene leaned her head on Denzel's chest. "Yeah, we're almost done in here!" Denzel called. But on the inside Marlene was an emotional wreck. This wonderful feeling . . . she never wanted it to leave. But something inside her felt like it couldn't take so much happening so fast. Small tears slid down her cheek as her mind had a civil war.

Denzel looked down at her and noticed her crying. "Hey," He said soothingly, bringing his arms around her protectively. "It's okay; I'm here," He whispered softly. Marlene looked up into his blue orbs and kissed him briefly, then dried her eyes and grasped her hand in his.

"We better go help the others," She mumbled so she was barely audible, but enough for Denzel to hear. He nodded and kept her hand inside his, never wanting to let go of her after that moment. "Well, do you think we should tell them just yet?" Marlene inquired as they made their way out.

"Nah; they would just give us payback for spying on them," Denzel said. Marlene giggled and reluctantly let her hand drop out of his as Kai and Anette came around the corner. "So you guys find anything?" Anette asked them. "Well, I notice that just about all the titles of the books had 'mako' in there somewhere," Marlene said, hiding a blush of what she found out afterwards; which was Denzel was one hell of a kisser.

"Yeah, I had a similar pattern," Nanaki and Anette pitched in. "So it's decided then? The password is 'mako'?" Kai asked. The others nodded and they all went to find the little man with the key card they needed. They found him pacing a room with a book in hand.

"So? Have you found the code?" The little man squeaked. Kai nodded. "Then what is it?"

"The password is mako," He said firmly. The little man grinned. "Correct," He said, pulling the key card out from one pocket and a bright blue materia out of his other. "The key card and your prize," He stated and got on his tip toes to present them to Kai. Kai stooped down and got both.

"It figures that you'd get it right though; you've been here before," The little man added. Kai was thoroughly confused. "No I haven't. I haven't even seen Midgar until today." Remembering he was disguised as a Kyukan soldier, he quickly added, "I worked in the Corel reactor until I was recently transferred," He hastily added.

"Well, happy researching!" And he then slowly walked down the hall. Kai inspected the materia and jumped in astonishment. "That old geezer is willing to give THIS good materia to us?" He cried out. Anette was puzzled. "What kind of materia is it?" she asked. "Me and Marlene work in a materia store, or at least we did until this adventure, so we know if something is rare or good or not."

"It's an elemental materia," He said. Marlene and Anette's eyes looked like they would pop out of their heads. "That's only one step of rarity down from a summon materia!" Marlene exclaimed, looking over the materia.

"Well, let's use that key card and check out that information, shall we?" Denzel offered, twining his fingers into Marlene's when the others went ahead of them. "Then we can get home sooner," He whispered to Marlene. She blushed a little before leaning her head on his shoulder wearily and followed the others into an elevator.

"This one takes us to floor number 87 . . . Hm," Kai said to himself as he pressed the button to go to that floor. When they entered that floor, they were surprised to find it much smaller of a space with a single desk, a few candles for light and one mountain of books. "Well, let's start digging," Kai sighed, trying to dig one book out from the bottom. "Kai, don't!" Nanaki barked, getting back down on all fours, and then proceeding to lie down. "Take one out from the bottom and the whole stack will fall."

After what felt like days when it was really an hour, they found the book they were looking for. It had no title or anything. Anette curiously opened it and started reading. "Hey guys, I think I found it," She called from her seat atop the mound of books. The others looked up at her, expecting her to read aloud her findings.

"It's a journal of a guy named Hojo when he was creating Sephiroth," She stated. "It reads, 'I am working day and night to find a way to create the ultimate human being that never tires no matter how much battle, and has unparalleled strength. But it has weaknesses. It must be birthed from a human woman that had the fertile egg injected with mako and the blood of an Ancient for an extra kicker. But that leaves the subject completely vulnerable when faced with someone whom has attempted defeating him once and has gotten close to succeeding. Though the difference is not as noticeable as some people think, it is enough of one to mean failure and success.'"

The others pondered this before Anette turned the page to see a blue print of a mako reactor with creatures in capsules printed at one end. She was mortified when she saw them. "Is that what's creating the monsters?" She cried. "What do you mean Anette?" Nanaki asked. She passed down the blue prints for them to see and the journal with its passages.

Marlene leaned against Denzel wearily. "Well, we found what we came for; I just wish the results weren't this horrible . . ." She said, one of Denzel's arms curling around her to comfort her like a brother would to a sister. She looked up at him, slightly confused when she caught a wink in one of his eyes.

"Thanks bro," She said, playing the part like he did. They decided to stow the information and get back to the inn. After ditching the uniforms, they were out of the Kyukan H.Q, they headed back to the inn.

"Alright now; let's hit the sack," Anette said between a yawn. Nanaki decided to alternate between sleeping in Denzel and Marlene's room and Kai and Anette's room just to keep things fair. When Denzel and Marlene got in their room, they kissed each other deeply, Denzel pulling Marlene to him in a warm embrace, Marlene's arms twined around his torso in response. When they broke apart, ocean clashed chocolate in one pure gaze before they kissed again. Marlene tripped over one of their bags and thankfully, the two landed on one of the beds. After scooting on the bed a bit more, Marlene let her head rest on the pillow, her eyes slowly drifting closed. Denzel smiled and put his arms around her waist and kissed her neck before going to sleep himself, his heart soaring.

"Rest well, love, rest well," He whispered as his eyes closed and he pulled Marlene to him, and the two rested like that until the rise of morning.

Chapter 4 is DONE! Alright, I hoped those Denzel and Marlene moments satisfied you all. The idea just popped into my head and I just started typing it. Also, I didn't put a disclaimer for the song cause bum bum ba dum; I wrote it! Okee, I am sorry if the song sucks, but I just started humming a random tune and then the words just popped in my head and I mentally yelled 'holy crap, this would work really well for my fan fic!' well, please review!


	5. a small 'short cut'

Hiya once again readers! Alrighty, I hope you all enjoyed the song I put in and I hope you like the Denzel x Marlene moment too! Now I noticed I neglected in adding in a yuffentine moment, so I made sure to put in an extra special deluxe one in this chapter hot and fresh from the oven in my mind (where each baked good/pastry is the equivalent of a good idea; the apple pie pile is the equivalent of Mount Fuji!). So have fun with it! And I apologize with the slow update on last chapter. I'm coming down with a cold, so I don't have as much time to type. Big thanks to my beta The Red Hawk. You've been great! Next chapter is my annual mentioning of reviewers, so make sure to send a review! Well, on with the show.

Disclaimer: I currently own something! (Surprise!) But it isn't anything to do with final fantasy or square enix, so that doesn't count. Darn.

Denzel woke to feeling the sun at his back, something warm and soft in his arms, with a rhythmic rising and falling of breathing. Then he remembered all of yesterday. He remembered the sneaking in the mako plant, the library, the kiss, everything. He glanced down to see Marlene fast asleep. He gave a small smile and hugged her tighter to him, closing his eyes, wanting to go back to sleep. Marlene stirred at the small squeeze and opened her eyes to meet his as they opened again.

"Morning," He whispered. She smiled up at him. "Good morning," she answered, nuzzling her head in his shoulder. They heard their door squeak open and their eyes widened. They were the only ones who had the key, except for another person.

Nanaki froze surprised at first seeing them like that but then started chuckling, before he was almost rolling on the floor laughing. "Hey, hey! Don't tell Kai or Anette, got it?" Denzel asked him nervously, the two sitting up. After he got over his laughing fit, Nanaki nodded in agreement. "Alright, I'll let you two have your secret little romance; but just to let you know Denzel, if you think that Vincent is protective of Anette, you haven't even seen how protective Barrett is," He informed them, then turned on his back paw and left the room.

Denzel gulped at the thought of being chased relentlessly by Barrett. All of the sudden that gun arm of his didn't look so harmless anymore . . . if it ever was harmless in the first place. "Nah, it's alright Denzel; I doubt dad would hunt you down if he knew we were, well, you know," Marlene assured him, a hint of pink shading her face. Denzel smiled and nodded, and then the two got working on preparing for that day's journey.

Before they left the inn, they all gathered in one of the rooms. "So, what exactly are we supposed to do now that we have this knowledge about the other mako reactors and the creatures that are spawned from them?" Kai asked, holding up Hojo's journal and the blueprints.

"Well, Kai looks almost exactly like his father, so he could pass for helping defeat Sephiroth," Nanaki stated, the others examining Kai to find what he said true. "But as for the mako reactors, we have no other way currently to shut them down safer, so the best we can do is what we did earlier." The others nodded and Marlene asked the next, more important question: "Where do we head next?" Nanaki sighed wearily and looked out the window, deep in thought. Finally, he turned to them and told them, "We best head to Junon Harbor. I have a bad feeling they might make an addition to it besides its giant cannon. In plus; Sephiroth might show up there."

They picked up their bags and began their travels. Over the next days, it became harder and harder for Denzel and Marlene to be together without the others seeing them exchange a kiss. It was hard to even be able to hug one another without a suspicious glance from Anette. So they were pretty much in a bad mood for most of the trip.

They had finally reached the coastline and were about three days out from Junon Harbor and decided to start camping along the shores. Marlene bought stew makings while in Midgar, so she was cooking it up while the others set up camp or kept watch. "Hey you know, this reminds me of a funny story father told me once," Kai said out of nowhere, his eyes reflecting back to when he heard the tale. "He said that he had to sneak on board a ship by disguising as a soldier, so he had to march in some parade with TV castings and everything. He missed his timing so bad, the people at the TV station said that he was so bad, someone should send him a bomb or something, then a few minutes later, someone came to him with a package from the TV station; it was a grenade!"

The others burst out laughing, glad that he succeeded in breaking the angry tension built between the four friends over the past days. "Well, if you don't want a reason to join the army, then I guess the fact that the TV station is gonna send you a bomb if you don't do well is a good enough reason," Denzel chuckled. The rest of the time they sat in uncomfortable silence, the tension returning with a vengeance. Denzel and Marlene glanced at each other, Marlene's eyes were pleading for any excuse to go off with Denzel alone for a while.

"It looks like the fire is dying down," Denzel said, pointing at the red coals. "I'll go get more wood." Marlene stood with him. "I'll go with you," She said, giving him a small wink when her head wasn't facing the others.

"If you aren't back in an hour, we'll go looking for you," The others called as the two sprinted off. When they were out of their sight, Denzel held Marlene to him as tight as he could, pressing his lips up against hers, Marlene gratefully returning the kiss. They just stayed like that, in pure harmony until they had to break apart for air.

Denzel heaved a great sigh of relief. "I needed that," He said with content, Marlene leaning her head on his shoulder as they gazed at the sun set. The sun had slipped past the horizon, leaving a cream orange-pink bank of clouds with wispy purple-grey ones rising from it like steam. She looked up at Denzel and the two kissed once more. They would have just kissed for all that time but they knew the others would search if they didn't head back soon, and going back empty handed would raise suspicions. Reluctantly, they broke apart and picked up sticks along the beach before hurrying back to the others. But as they were just out of their sight, Marlene gave Denzel a quick kiss before they came into view and put the sticks into the fire to fuel its ravenous coals, flames licking to life soon after the wood was placed within them. "And we were about to go looking for you," Anette said as they sat down. Nanaki looked between the two before saying, "I'm sure you two knew what you were doing, right?" Marlene looked at the flames to hide a blush while Denzel suppressed one and nodded, stocking the flames with a stick they left out.

"Yeah, it just took a bit to find the right sticks," Marlene said. They sat in silence the rest of the night, contemplating on the days to come. How they might sneak into Junon and such.

"I'm gonna head to bed," Anette finally said after staring into the fire a long while. After giving Kai a quick kiss, she headed into the girls' tent and nestled down to sleep. The others followed suit shortly thereafter.

The next day, the tension between the four had subdued drastically. They woke up with the sun and were off shortly thereafter. But things went horribly wrong when they sat down on the beach to rest and eat lunch.

They just put down their packs and dug out a handful of jerky and dried fruit each when they heard the waves rising up higher than usual behind them. They still wouldn't stop rising, even at 10 feet high, which was extremely abnormal to that beach. The others became worried and picked up their packs and started to move before they saw why the waves picked up. A massive dragon-like monster with huge claws came ashore, eyes with murderous intent within them. Denzel wasted no time in drawing out his bow, aiming an arrow at it and letting go of the string. The arrow whizzed in the air as it sailed to the monster, before bouncing off it with a sharp _ting _sound, as if he hit armor.

"Well shit, this is bad," Anette said, pulling out her weapons and materia, the others following suit. The battle raged on, but they couldn't find a weakness. The monster's claw had found a way to cut their flesh then shortly thereafter throw sea water on them. Kai screamed in agony when the water hit his pierced flesh.

"Kai!" Anette yelled out, trying to run to him through the gushing sea water and sand. She landed right next to him and used Cure over it since it was a just a shallow cut. He breathed in relief as the stinging pain subsided, then picked up his buster sword once more. "How in hell's name do we get past those scales? They're tough as animite!" He said aloud. Though they succeeded in pissing off the monster.

It roared in anger and all of the sudden, water gushed around them, swirling them into the ocean, Kai and Anette being separated by the strong current. Anette screamed as the wave took her over and under the water and suddenly, everything went black when her head hit a piece of driftwood and she fell unconscious.

Denzel and Marlene gripped onto each other's fore arms as tight as they could, but they could feel the water work under their grip, loosening it, trying to pry them apart. Nanaki was nowhere to be seen at the time. "Marlene, don't let go!" Denzel cried out. But the monster sent forth another tsunami, and they were pried apart, and were knocked unconscious just like the others. But they didn't know that they would live through it and their bodies would drift out to a small island country that is Yuffie's homeland.

Oo00oO

Anette felt a warm blanket on her and a fire nearby her. She was lying down on something soft. Her memory was fuzzy and her eyes were still closed, occasionally flickering now and then. Voices were heard around her, but she was too tired to make out what they were saying. She went back to sleep and woke up a few hours later, this time her head was thinking a little more clear. Then her memory hit her like a brick. She sat bolt upright, eyes wide in horror of what happened to her friends. Anette felt a warm soft blanket slide down her body to show her in different clothes, her body aching horribly. A young girl sitting by her bed with a warm towel breathed with relief.

"Mama, she woke up!" The girl yelled downstairs. Anette glanced down at the girl. "Thank Leviathan your awake! We saw you washed up on the shore and we thought you were dead! But mama felt a pulse and brought you in. It's been three days now!"

Anette glanced around warily. "Where am I? Who are you? Where's Kai? What about Denzel and Marlene?" The girl looked confused. "Uh, I'm Lynn to start with your first question. You're currently in a village on the coast of Wutai near the palace, and I don't know anyone named Kai, Marlene, or Denzel. I don't even know your name!"

Anette blinked before mentally slapping herself. "Oh, sorry! I'm Anette, and the people I mentioned are my friends, and I need to find them." She struggled to shift and warily stood up, her whole body shaking. Lynn pushed her back down. "Oh no you don't! You're still recovering! In fact, you're lucky to be alive!" She looked distant before saying 'Oh!' and running to a cupboard.

"We found you with these and decided to keep them and see if they were important to you," Lynn explained and held out a slightly more ragged cloak that her father had given her and her weapons with less ammo in them, but enough to last her through one or two battles. Anette gasped. "How did they stay with me?" She asked.

"I don't know," She said. She went to the doorway and yelled, "She's awake everyone!" There were a couple crashes and then three people came skidding in the room. One looked to be an elderly woman, a kind smile on her face. Behind her were two boys, one was about Anette's age and the other was younger than Lynn.

"What are you two doing standing here? The poor girl hasn't eaten in days! Go get some stew that I fixed up!" The older woman told the boys. "And throw in some bread while you're at it!" She then went over to Anette and examined her wounds which were bandaged. "My, you're a lucky one," She commented as she put salve over some wounds she unbandaged to check on. "Where is it you came drifting from girl?"

"Um, my friends and I were traveling to Junon Harbor when we were attacked by this giant sea-monster thing. I was hoping to go out into town today and try and find them," Anette explained. The elderly woman gave a quiet chuckle. "Junon eh? You've traveled quite a ways then." Anette was in utter shock. She was in Wutai and had no supplies, and on top of that, her friends were either dead, or out there searching for her and the others. She hoped it was the other option.

She then remembered her anklet. Hastily, she pulled the covers off her leg to reveal a slightly beaten up anklet, the silver charms still held together perfectly. The people in the room gasped when they saw her anklet and bowed respectfully.

"Hey, what gives? It's not like I'm royalty or anything! If anything, I should be bowing to you!" Anette told the two women and the small boy. Their faces went from surprise to seriousness. "How did you get that anklet girl?" She asked sternly.

"My mother gave it to me before I started adventuring," She said flatly.

"And what is her maiden name?"

Anette hesitated before saying, "Yuffie Kisaragi is my mother; my father is Vincent Valentine." The old woman gasped in shock. "Her highness is married? And to a commoner?" The older boy came back with a tray of food and nearly dropped it when he heard that.

"Yuffie-sama is married?" He nearly yelled. Anette was in utter confusion. "Mind explaining to me what's going on here?" The old woman continued tending her wounds as she told her, "Yuffie Kisaragi was the heir to the throne of Wutai until a male heir was born."

Anette thought she had enough shock and confusion for one day, but this just topped the lid. She grabbed the pillow behind her and screamed into it until she was wheezing from using so much breath. The woman sat calmly, gazing down to her. "After you have eaten, see how well you feel. With the use of materia, I can have you up and out of bed in a few hours," She told her.

Anette nodded and gratefully accepted the large plate of food that the elder of the boys had gotten her. "Thank you," She whispered hoarsely, her voice still soar from screaming so hard. She shoveled the food down her throat and got a second plate right after. When her belly bulged from finally getting food inside it, she sighed gratefully and fell back on the bed. How in the world would she find the others? And what about her mother and father? Why had they hide the fact that Yuffie was a princess from her, her whole life? It dizzied her to think about it, so she decided not to think too much about that for now.

The woman came back with a mastered Restore Materia and cast Cure 3 over Anette. Her aching muscles felt refreshed and her whole body was in better shape. She stood up and walked around a bit. She wouldn't be able to do any fighting for a couple days, but she would be able to search for her friends. She buckled her cloak on and strapped her weapons at her hips. As she walked out the door to that room, she turned and told the woman, "I cannot even begin to describe how much I am grateful to you! I owe you my life!" And she then walked out to the village. She searched it up and down, side to side and any other way you could think of. Just when she was going to give up, she saw some soldiers marching two very familiar men to the castle. One had uncannily recognizable spiky blonde hair and the other had soft feather brown hair and a distant look in his ocean blue eyes as he examined the town around him. It was Kai and Denzel.

Anette ran up and blocked the soldiers' path. "Let these two go at once, they are my friends!" She said firmly. Kai and Denzel were bruised and scratched all over, their clothes torn to show the muscled abs they had from years of heavy training. When they saw her, they tried to break free from the guards, but they were held back.

"What do you care? We found them on the beach and were going to send them to the palace dungeons for a few years," one haughty guard said, his head raised as if he was better than Anette.

"Then maybe you will listen if you know I'm the daughter of Yuffie Kisaragi," She said, taking off her anklet temporarily to prove her statement true. "Now let them go," She repeated. The guards were so stunned, they dropped their weapons, releasing Kai and Denzel. Kai ran over to her and held her to him tightly, Anette returning the embrace. He looked at her before kissing her passionately and then when they broke apart he asked her, "What does you being Yuffie's daughter have to do with having power over the guards?"

Anette shrugged. "I'll explain later. I'm just happy I found you. . ."

"Hey, I'm here too guys and we have yet to find Marlene or Naki," Denzel pointed out to the two. Anette turned to the soldiers and asked, "Have you seen a lion with bright red fur and a flaming tail, or a girl a bit older than me with brown hair and brown eyes?" The guards, just getting over their attack of shock, nodded and pointed at the palace and said, "The other squad of guards had those two taken in to be examined by the queen to see if they would be fit to be servants a while ago."

Denzel tensed with anger. "Let's go," He said, his voice brimming with rage. "Nobody gets away with turning Naki and Marlene into lowly servants unless I'm dead!" The three made their way through the palace gates, Anette brandishing her anklet as if it was the key to a completely new world. The guards were so stunned; all they could do was either stare in shock or drop their weapons. Anette finally made it into the main room and found Marlene and Nanaki on the floor, Marlene's arms were held tightly by two guards.

There were two people sitting on the thrones. One was a middle-aged woman who was richly decorated in silk tresses with pearl and beads sewn in. All her bony fingers were sparkling with many rings. She had an arrogant look on her face, her head held so high, that Anette thought it would go through the roof. The boy next to her in the throne looked to be slightly older than Anette. He had a bored expression on his face, his small crown lopsided on his head as opposed to the woman who rather large one was balanced perfectly in place. He was dressed just as richly, but instead of rings, he had at least five earrings on each ear. His eyes showed interest in Anette when she walked in, examining her all over.

"Marlene!" Denzel yelled out when he saw how she was thrown on the floor with the guards gripping her arms so harshly.

"Is that her name? She will have to get rid of it when she becomes my servant," The woman said in a voice that was just as stuck up as predicted. Anette moved forward, and held up her anklet as if it would repel the woman. "Let my friends go," She said firmly. The woman looked like she would choke for one second before regaining her composure.

"Who are you girl to come barging in to my palace and brandishing the royal anklet at me like a weapon?" She asked her voice hard as stone.

"My name is Anette Sakura Rosina Valentine," She responded. She thought that using her full name would help reveal more that might compel the woman to let Marlene and Nanaki go. "My mother is Yuffie Kisaragi and my father is Vincent Valentine."

The woman gasped. "My niece? Married to a commoner? And she didn't even as much as _inform_ me of this? The nerve of that girl!" The boy sat bolt upright, the interest on Anette replaced with shock. "You mean this, this…_commoner_ is my cousin?" He asked in a whiny spoiled voice. Anette shook her head.

"Just let my friends go," Anette said, her voice edging along anger. The woman scoffed. "Do you know of a man named Hojo? Your father loved a girl named Lucrecia around the time he worked for Shinra," She stated.

"I know about my father's past, so skip the damn lecture and give me back my friends," Anette commanded angrily. But the woman wouldn't stop.

"When Lucrecia married Hojo to do an experiment, you father went to fight Hojo and got shot in the head," She continued, her voice getting more and more brutal. "Hojo then genetically altered your father with mako, replaced one arm with a claw, brought him back to life, suspended him in a sleep, and then stuffed him in a coffin in the Shinra Mansion down in Nibelheim."

Anette's anger grew so much that she strode forward and pushed the guards restraining Nanaki and Marlene aside as if they were made of paper. Marlene bolted up to the woman and slapped her as hard as she could followed up by a punch square in the face. "Nobody and I mean NOBODY treats me, Anette, or anyone like a slave to a country I'm not even from!" Marlene yelled, just as angry as Anette. The guards tried to go after her, but Denzel put himself between Marlene and the guards, his eyes extremely dangerous. They backed down with their tails between their legs. Anette took out her guns and aimed right at her head. "And I don't give a _damn_ if you rule the whole fking world, nobody trash talks my father as if he was a vampire or something! True, he was treated like that, but he is just like you and I, only much less arrogant in your case," Anette said, her voice seething with rage.

Denzel had Marlene protectively in his arms as guards surrounded them. "The penalty for inflicting pain upon the queen is death by being hung at noon, if you are a commoner," The spoiled boy said. Anette looked over worriedly to Marlene. She was being pried from Denzel, whose life was being threatened by a dagger.

"You can take your friends; I just ask we uphold the law. You can choose to have all of them die right here or only lose one," The woman said, hiding a blackened face from getting punched. Anette looked at the floor tears in her eyes.

"We will leave without Marlene," Nanaki blurted. They all stared at him as if he was a lunatic. "Naki, what do you mean?" Denzel asked, hurt showing in his face and eyes.

"Come on Denzel," He forced Denzel back as best he could, Marlene forced in the opposite direction. "Marlene," He whispered tears of anguish forming in his eyes. "Marlene!" He yelled stretching out his hand in her direction. How could Nanaki say that? Leave Marlene to be hung tomorrow at high noon? He wouldn't let that happen!

"Dammit boy, stop struggling!" Nanaki told him sternly. "What would I tell the others if I just let all of you die?"

"I don't give a shit, I have to save Marlene," He screamed, fighting back futilely. Anette and Kai reluctantly followed, tears in Anette's eyes at the sight of Marlene being dragged away. "Let's go to the house of the people who found me for the night," Anette whispered, crying half the way there.

When they got to the house, the elderly woman opened the door to see her in a state of anguish and said, "I'll fix some tea; it appears some explaining is needed," she said, helping Anette inside. After they all had a cup of tea, Anette explained the whole thing, huddled in Kai's arms on the couch by the fire, ending in a bundle of tears.

"We can't let them kill Marlene," Denzel said, his voice shaking with rage of how they plan to publicly humiliate her with death. "I am sorry, but I can't let you risk your life like that!" Nanaki told him sternly.

"IS THIS HOW YOU ACTED WITH AERIS? DID SHE DIE BECAUSE YOU WERE TOO SCARED OF GETTING YOUR OWN SORRY ASS KILLED THAT YOU LEFT HER TO HER FATE? WELL, SAY SOMETHING, DAMN YOU!" Denzel yelled. There was a long, bitter silence until Anette pitched in, "I agree with Denzel; we can't just let Marlene die. I'm gonna help save her." She stood and walked over next to Denzel, putting her fist out in front of her, a weak smile on her face.

Kai sighed. "I ain't gonna let my girlfriend die in this mix either; and Marlene is like my half sister, I can't just sit back and watch her go!" He stood and went next to Anette, putting his fist in with Denzel's and Anette's.

"We are going to get her out," Denzel declared firmly to Nanaki. "Whether or not you help us is up to you Naki." There was a long pause before he walked over and put a paw over their half-circle of fists. "Alright, I'm in," He said. Denzel gave a weak smile before turning to the others.

"Well, let's get planning then," Denzel said. Lynn walked in the room. "Um, I found a giant sword and a bow with blades on it outside," She said nervously, glancing up at the two men. Denzel and Kai looked at each other before racing outside. Sure enough, their weapons were found sitting on the porch outside, gleaming as if they were never injured from the battle at sea.

"Look, there's a note," Denzel said, pointing to the piece of paper. "It reads: 'Save Marlene for me; I would if I could, but I'm bound to the church so I can't. Love you all –Aeris.'" They all looked at the sky to see a star gleam happily at them.

"We will Aeris, I promise," Denzel said. They used the back of that note to make a map of the town square where a man was putting up a choke loop for the next day. "Okay, I will be positioned here, so when they start to choke her, I can use my arrows to cut the rope and she will still be alive," Denzel said, pointing to a point on the map.

"If I am there, then I can jump down and get to her easily. But in case I don't get her cut down on the first arrow, Naki, you will be here to hold off the guards." He paused to point to a place on the map just below Denzel's position. "Kai, you are going to get up there and guard her until I get down there; the guards will still try to kill her, and without her weapons, she won't be able to fight as easy. And Anette, you are going to get to Marlene with Kai and you are going to heal her and look after her as best you can until I get there. But remember, if this fails, Marlene will die, so stay as alert as you can." They all nodded and went to bed, Lynn and her grandmother preparing what they need for the next day's adventure.

Oo00oO

Marlene sat in the small cell, weakly tugging at the chains on her hands and feet, tears sliding down her cheeks. How could they just leave her like that? She knew that Denzel didn't want to leave her, she heard him call out her name and saw him struggle against Nanaki to get to her, but how could Nanaki just leave her? Her life was over before it started. She had just found her first love. Why would life take that away from her? It hurt so bad, she couldn't bear it. But yet she tried to take it as well as she could. She remembered one time, right after they beat Sephiroth. They made a small grave stone for Aeris. And they sang something that was so commonly known in AVALANCHE, it was basically their anthem. She closed her eyes and sang out what they sang then, unknowingly a green wind surrounding her and carrying her voice to Denzel.

(By the way, I don't own this song. It was written by Joss Whedon, the creator of Firefly, the awesomest show that ever existed in the history of history.)

_Take my love,_

_Take my land,_

_Take me where I cannot stand_

_I don't care, _

_I'm still free,_

_You can't take the sky from me._

_Take me out,_

_To the black,_

_Tell 'em I ain't comin' back_

_Burn the land_

_And boil the sea_

_You can't take the sky from me. _

_There's no place _

_I can't be_

_Since I've found Serenity_

_You can't take the sky from me _

The wind swirled out the small, barred window and out to Denzel just as Marlene opened her eyes. She let out more tears before softly falling asleep, aware of her bruising wrists and ankles. She let her mind drift as she mentally tried to prepare herself for her day of dread.

Oo00oO

Denzel told the others that he would sleep on the roof since they didn't have enough rooms. He liked the cool breeze and his best times with Marlene were always spent on the roof of their old house before Tifa and Cloud found them. His eyes slightly widened when he saw a faint green wind flying towards him. He was even more surprised to hear Marlene's voice within it. He stood up and ran into it and heard her singing 'Serenity'. His eyes felt like they would pop out of his head after that. He looked at the palace, where she was confined.

"I don't care if I die in the process Marlene, but I promise that you will leave here safe," Denzel whispered, as if the wind would take his voice back to her. But when the song and wind both faded, he was still standing alone on the roof. He sighed and sat back down. Tomorrow would be a long day.

Oo00oO

"Out with you woman!" the guard demanded harshly. He grabbed her roughly by the shoulder and Marlene half walked, half being dragged was taken out of her cell to see the sunlight and a crowd of people steady and waiting in front of the gallows. She gulped and strode forward purposely, as if her protest on the queen would change them all. If she was going to die this way, she would take it with dignity.

"Her majesty Isigana, queen of Wutai and her son, Prince Kinjo!" An announcer said to her far left as Marlene was thrown onto the wooden platform, tears forming in her eyes. Where were the others? They should've come jumping out of the crowd by now, getting her out of there, but they didn't. But little did Marlene know, they had a plan, and they were going to get her out.

Oo00oO

Denzel shined his mirror in the light to signal to Kai and Anette, who were currently dressed like citizens, hiding their weapons as to avoid scaring the crowd into moving away from them, which would reveal them to the enemy. He saw a mirror shine back in response. Nanaki stood behind him, ready to take any enemies they might send after Denzel if he missed on his first shot. An announcer got up on the platform with a scroll and read aloud, "Miss Marlene, you are charged with assault on the queen of Wutai. The penalty for a commoner is death. Have you any last words?"

Marlene wearily stood up, hugging her side where a newly adorned bruise was aching. "Only that this is complete insanity! Me and my friends were attacked by some giant water-dragon when we were on the way to Junon harbor and I woke up on a beach. I went up to the guards that had one of my friends in hope of getting an explanation, but instead they tried to put me through slavery! Does a single soul out there think that it's fair to kill me when the woman tried to take away my life when I was washed up on this shore by accident?" A quiet murmur went through the crowd.

"Silence!" Isigana yelled, a large and heavily jeweled staff in her hand coming down with a sharp crack. "Get on with it; she has said her piece." The announcer then looked at the scroll once again and said. "May Leviathan have mercy on your soul" And promptly got off as the rope was wrung around her throat and she was roughly lifted onto a stool. Tears formed in her eyes. She would die alone.

All this time, she thought Denzel would come, that he would save her from this living hell. Well, he wasn't here, so she might as well die with dignity. She raised her chin to show her tears to the world, letting them out openly. Denzel's heart gave a pang at the sight of this. He drew an arrow from his quiver and set it into the string, pulling it back and taking aim for the rope.

"Now," Isigana called out. The executioner nodded and kicked the stool out from under Marlene, her throat making a sickening, choking sound as she dropped only to be snagged by the rope. Denzel fired the arrow and it whizzed by, shredding half the rope. Marlene felt the tug at the top and saw the glint of another arrow being set in place.

Nanaki began holding off the guards as Denzel loaded in the next arrow and aimed for the other half of the rope. His eyes narrowed in concentration. He had to make this one last shot or Marlene could die. He let the arrow fly, a stream of light from being charged by his limit following, showering those below the arrow in puffy shards of light that warmed whatever it touched before giving off a gleam and fading. The arrow made contact with the rope and Marlene fell to the wooden platform, coughing and sputtering as her body welcomed air back into her lungs, her wrists fighting to get free of their bindings. She heard footsteps and a small _shing_ sound like rope being cut and her wrists were free. She looked behind her to see Anette as she cast Cure 3 over her. Kai was behind her, knocking out guards that tried to get through.

She looked in the direction the arrows were coming from to see Denzel bolting through the crowd, Nanaki close behind, putting up a barrier so guards couldn't go after them from there. Denzel leaped on to the platform and held Marlene to him as close as he could, a small tear escaping his eyes.

They looked at each other, mixed emotions of love, happiness, and relief in each. "You came for me," Marlene said aloud. Denzel caressed one of her cheeks with his hand, staring into her chocolate brown orbs. "I would rather go to hell and back then let you die," He said. Then he kissed her passionately, not caring who or what saw. Marlene returned the kiss gratefully, all of time screeching to a halt as this one pure moment came into play, bringing those who saw it to the brink of tears.

When they broke apart, Marlene looked up at Denzel and broke into tears, leaning against him. His arms tightened around her protectively as he looked over the crowd and yelled out so every living soul could hear, "This is what happens when you let the avarice and cruelty of one's leader take control! That BITCH you call your queen tried to kill my love when all she did was stand up for her rights! And none of us even LIVE in this god damn country, so why should we abide your laws? We just want to get the hell back to where we were intending to go and get the hell on with our journey! Is that so bad? Is it?"

More murmurs, this time ones full of rage arose and could not be deflated. There was a tap on Denzel's shoulder and he looked around to find Nanaki holding up his PHS with his tail. "Call Yuffie," he told Denzel. "She will be able to handle this." Denzel looked down at Marlene who was still shaking and spilling tears. Denzel shook his head. "Have Anette do it; I'm taking care of my girlfriend." Nanaki sighed and handed it to Anette.

"How could they try to kill me? I thought you would never come . . ." Marlene choked out. Denzel rubbed her back soothingly, his head resting against hers, welcoming the earthy, sage scent of her hair. "Hush now; I'm here, am I not? I wasn't going to let you die. Now then, let's just rest, we're safe now," He assured her lovingly, refusing to let go of her even if his life depended on it.

Over with Anette and the PHS . . .

"She WHAT?" Yuffie screeched into the PHS, causing Anette to wince and pull it back from her face. She had just gotten through explaining what had happened to her. Vincent came into view, his eyes burning like wildfires. Being furious would be so much of an understatement; you couldn't even describe how angry he is.

"Put Isigana on the PHS Anette," He told her. She nodded and went over to Isigana, brushing the guards aside as if they were just dolls. "Stay away from me demon girl!" Kinjo squealed, hiding behind Isigana.

"Oh grow up you damn spoiled brat!" Anette yelled at him. "Now then, my mother and father would like to have a word with you, Isigana-teme," She told her in a sarcastic sweet voice, showing her the PHS. Yuffie exploded.

"WHAT IN F&(ING HELL'S NAME ARE YOU DOING TRYING TO KILL COMPANIONS OF MY DAUGHTER WHEN THEY GAVE A PERFECTLY LIGITIMIT REASON TO GET THEIR SUPPLIES RESTOCKED AND TO GET BACK ON TRACK? AND SELLING THEM INTO SLAVERY? IF YOU WANT TO STAY QUEEN, START ACTING LIKE IT OR I WILL PERSONALLY GO OVER THERE AND WHIP YOUR ASS TO F&(ING HELL, GOT IT YOU BITCH OF AN AUNT?" Yuffie yelled into the PHS at the top of her lungs. Kinjo squeaked and ran back in the palace. "Vincent dear, would you like to add to that?" Yuffie asked a loving smile on her face as she glanced up at her husband. He sighed and smirked before turning his attention to Isigana.

"Mark my words; if you don't replenish all of what they lost when they were attacked and give them the next boat ride to Junon Harbor, I _will_ pay you a 'visit.' Am I understood?" He put lots of emphasis on this last sentence.

Isigana sighed. "I suppose I don't have a choice, do I? Well Yuffie dear, I will do what you asked, but honestly, you must have better taste in men than a moldy old vampire locked in a cupboard for-" But was cut off when Anette pulled out one of her guns and aimed the barrel so it was touching her face square in between her eyes. "You don't want to finish that sentence," She threatened, her eyes burning in fury. Yuffie smiled cheerfully.

"That's my girl!" She said with profound pride. Vincent sighed and hugged Yuffie from behind glancing at his daughter. "Take care Anette; and stay in touch. You worry your old father far too much these days." Anette smiled and nodded in response.

"Check in with us in a few days so we know whether or not Isigana has actually upheld her end of our 'bargain'. Okay?" Yuffie asked her sweetly. Anette waved. "Bye guys! And tell the others I say hi!"

"By Anette," the couple called, Yuffie waving.

Oo00oO

"Well, she is definitely getting into her share of troubles," Yuffie commented when she ended the call, leaning into Vincent's hug from behind.

Vincent smiled. It was still hard for him to grasp how quickly she went from a curious infant to the strong, confident woman she is now. He still remembers her as a baby, about three and a half years after they came home from banishing Chaos from his mind.

FLASHBACK:

The small infant clutched her father's leg as she tried to stand up, months after being born. Anette's eyes were drooping. Vincent and Yuffie had been talking with the others when Anette decided to get down and try and stand. She had fallen many times, often reaching out for her father's leg or his cloak to catch herself from falling. She warily looked around the room and then let go of her father's leg. She didn't fall.

Anette gurgled in triumph, reaching up as if asking for her father to pick her up. He sighed and scooped up the infant, hugging her to him warmly. "Well done Anette, but I think it's time to rest," he told the little girl. Yuffie got up to put the baby to sleep, but Vincent put a hand to pull her back down. "You aren't the only one who wants to take care of our child," He said and got up, Anette's tiny little arms trying to go around his neck.

Vincent entered his and Yuffie's room and went to the cradle, bathed in moonlight from the window nearby. Anette's face scrunched as she started to cry when her father just put her down in the crib. He immediately went back and picked her up again. "You know, I am not your bed, that is," He told the child, gesturing to her crib. Seeing as he would have to have her fall asleep before putting her in her crib, he gently rocked her in his arms, singing a soft lullaby that he once sang for Yuffie:

_I just saw you_

_Beyond the course of time_

_A room we once shared _

_But my memory's a haze_

_Forgetting what I said,_

_I held out my hand_

_And in that perfect moment_

_I lost you all over again_

_In a shallow sleep I dreamt _

_That I was seeing you _

_Just how I remembered_

_Brimming with tenderness_

_And somewhere in the calm_

_A feeling that nothing had ever changed_

_Your presence close beside me till I wake_

_I just saw you_

_A moment far too brief_

_But my heart was beating fast_

_Perhaps someday we'll meet again_

_In a shallow sleep I dreamt _

_I was seeing you _

_Just how I remembered_

_Brimming with tenderness_

_And somewhere in the calm_

_A feeling that nothing had ever changed_

_Your presence close beside me till I wake_

_An artist without a paintbrush_

_Can't paint upon the canvas_

_Without you, there is no color_

_A colorless landscape_

_In a shallow sleep I dreamt _

_I was seeing you_

_Just how I remembered,_

_Brimming with tenderness_

_And somewhere in the calm_

_A feeling that nothing had ever changed_

_Your presence close beside me till I wake_

_I see you shallow sleep_

Vincent smiled and glanced down to see Anette sleeping soundly. He smiled and gently set her down in the crib, covering her with a blanket gingerly. And as he walked out the door, Yuffie came out in front of him.

"I remember that song," She said playfully. Vincent smirked. "Our daughter is very much like her mother," He explained, his organic hand brushing hair off Yuffie's face. She smiled and kissed him firmly, her arms going around his neck. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her to him. When they heard yelling from the other room, they reluctantly pulled away from each other and closed the door to their room so Anette would not be woken up.

"We will have to talk to them about that," Yuffie thought aloud. Vincent kissed her again and after he pulled away he answered, "If our daughter sleeps like you as much as she acts like you, no amount of alcohol will make Cid yell loud enough to wake her up."

END OF FLASHBACK

"Hello, Vincent, you there?" Yuffie asked, waving a hand in front of his face. He snapped out of his memories and looked down at Yuffie. "Sorry," He simply said. She giggled. "Vincent Valentine actually spaces out once in a while? I am thoroughly shocked." He smiled and leaned down to kiss her.

Back in Wutai with the new generation of AVALANCHE . . .

"So now, exactly why did you guys hide your relationship from us?" Kai asked Denzel and Marlene who were still curled up within each other. Marlene turned red and answered, "We thought you guys would give us pay back for spying on your romantic moments."

Anette and Kai looked at each other in an awkward silence before bursting out into laughter, Anette leaning on Kai to keep herself from hitting the floor. Denzel and Marlene's face hardened slightly. "It's true!" They still kept laughing. Marlene starting giggling herself and soon it was contagious and shortly after, even Nanaki was bursting out laughing. When they had subsided to simple giggles, Marlene glared at Nanaki.

"How could you try and leave me behind?" She yelled at him. Nanaki cringed when she got up, temporarily borrowed Denzel's bow and arrows and was about to chase after him, sending him whimpering into a corner when Anette interjected, "With your aim, you'll be lucky to hit him even when he's standing still."

That set everyone laughing again.

Alright! Chapter 5 is now done! Okee, I forgot to put a disclaimer for shallow sleep. It was written by gackt-sama. Just curious: are any of you Firefly fans? If you are, you basically earn yourself 100 points in my book. Firefly is the awesomest of awesome shows that ever existed! Oh yeah, and if any of you are wondering what animite is, its supposedly a mythical metal that is so hard, you can't melt it, can't cut it, can't do anything with it, but if you find a way to turn it into armor, you are invincible! Well, if you wanna be mentioned next chapter, be sure to leave a review! You've all been great!

Ichi


	6. A sorrowful reunion

Okee okee okee. Now then, only two people reviewed my last chappie (thanks you so much to those two!) the two who reviewed are Redlei and otaku dreamer. I love you all guys, but without your reviews, my motivation to update is not as strong; hence why I encourage you to update every chappie. So here is my law from here on: I will not update until I receive at least three reviews! I will still really like it if I got reviews even after three, but just to let yah all know. I mean, why should I continue if I can't even get feedback? That's what drives me to continue Now then, a quick thank you to The Red Hawk, who's managed to make it look like I have at least slightly decent grammar/spelling: p well, on with the show I guess!

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or Square Enix. Must I say more?

Anette shifted as she woke up in a guest room at the palace, the sun shining down upon her, giving her midnight hair a sleek shine to it as it flowed down her shoulders to her waist. Her gentle red-grey eyes squinted as they adjusted to the light and she wearily got up and stretched her weary muscles. After realizing that she had no spare clothes other than the already dirty set that Lynn's grandmother had lent her, she blushed profusely. A palace handmaiden walked in and she sighed in relief.

"Hi miss, you wouldn't happen to have any spare clothes I could use, would you?" Anette asked as politely as she could. The woman nodded and responded, "Her highness has commanded us to spend the next three days restocking everything that you had lost and more, and I was sent to have you fitting for travel armor."

Anette was beyond surprised, but decided not to show it and let herself be measured. The woman would be making some marks on her ruler here and there, sometimes mumbling things she couldn't understand. But after a half hour, she stepped away and said, "I think I have what you need in stock; please wait here for one moment." She was gone in a flash and then back in one too. But when Anette saw the armor, she was impressed beyond explanation.

The armor was basically silk steel shirts and shorts and what not, but they had the metal literally sewed into it with thousands of stitches that went into only holding one section of the metal on it. The silk steel was deep red and the metal was a silvery-white contrast to it. Anette inspected it closer and realized what it was. The metal had a soft white glow to its silvery surface. Anette picked up the shirt. It felt light as a feather.

"This is Mythril, isn't it?" Anette asked anxiously. The woman nodded and said, "We found a reserve of it towards the middle of Wutai and we've been producing these ever since." Anette went into the bathroom with the clothes and came out happy.

The shirt was short sleeved and the chest plate was well spread, going as low as her chest and as high as just before her collar bones. The sleeves had small guards on them to mean to deflect arrows; her entire back was covered with a sheet of the strong metal. Two buckles went across her belly, though they were made from leather, they weren't much protection or anything. Anette concluded they were for show. Her khaki shorts had a thigh guard facing front and back, along with Mythril guarded knee high boots. Her forearms were covered with a navy fingerless glove that went all the way to her elbow, a guard going across her arm, stopping at the wrist so she could move her joints, then started again on the back of her hand (this was on each arm by the way.) Just to top it off, Anette brushed her hair out, then used her crimson hair band that her father gave her as a hair tie and had a high pony tail, her hair swishing down higher up onto her back. The woman nodded her approval and pointed to a stack.

"That is the rest of them," She said pointedly. Anette nodded, strapping on the neck guard portion of the array. She then bowed and left the room. Anette gave a small shudder. She hated it when people acted like they were below her. She was equal to every living or non living thing that existed on the planet, down to the last pebble. After all, when she died, she would decompose into the ground, giving nutrients for it so it would stay alive and feed small animals that she would have eaten at least once in her life. This is why she hated slavery and servitude so much. The whole prospect of treating humans like a material to be bartered for food was just unthinkable. She sighed and went out of her room to look around the place. She found Kai and Denzel training outside in similar armor, only Kai's was ocean blue and Denzel's was a forest green. Anette shrugged. They made them look like they were uniform dolls or something.

Kai and Denzel finished up and turned around to see Anette watching them. Kai grinned and wiped the sweat from his brow and went over to talk to her. "Good morning!" Anette said in her normal cheeriness, hands gently folded behind her back. Anette looked around and noticed they were missing someone. "Where's Marlene?" She asked.

Denzel smiled sheepishly. "She's still tired from yesterday's excursion; I let her sleep in." Anette nodded before taking out her guns and asking, "So who wants to be the guinea pig for my new technique?" The two men stared at each other before Denzel gently pushed Kai forward, backing away himself. Though Anette didn't seem to notice.

"Aw thanks Kai, I didn't know you would be the one to step forward seeing as you might get beat by your girlfriend," Anette teased playfully, taking out the real knives from her weapon and replacing them with blunt, plastic heads that left little marks on what they hit to avoid getting anyone killed. Kai glared and Denzel and answered, "I didn't really know either."

Anette giggled a bit before entering the training circle and going off to her corner, Kai to his. Denzel stood in the middle. He swiped his hand to signal the beginning of the battle and got the hell out of the way. Him in the cross fire would be bad.

Anette used a barrier materia and began her new attack. Kai used every attack he could on the barrier, but it was cast well and it would be a bit before he could break it. Anette closed her eyes and a crisp whistle escaped her pursed lips, the melody rising and falling, more and more cream orange blossoms falling, wind rising and whipping are Kai gradually becoming more and more painful. Pretty soon, they were in a cyclone of wind and petals, Anette jumping up and hiding herself in it. Kai looked around trying to find where she was, but it was too thick with blossoms to see her, the wind created too much noise, and she smelled just like peach blossoms so that rendered those feelings helpless. He felt a sharp sting on his back as a fake knife hit. He felt another on his chest, then another on his legs, his arms, some tauntingly striking his back as if she would be right there, making Kai turn around, but only to be hit on the back again. Finally, the wind died down and Kai, kneeling on the ground, buster sword guarding his head from any fake knives that could hit. Anette walked up to him and put one gun to his head. She then followed tradition and asked, "Do you yield?"

Kai smiled wearily and held up his hands in mock defeat. "I yield." Anette smiled and put away her gun, offering a hand to help him up. But as she helped him up, applause was heard next to them. They looked at each other before simultaneously turning their heads to see that a crowd had gathered to watch the fight, including the maid that gave Anette her armor. Kai glanced down to see not cuts or bruises; everything had bounced off or skimmed by the mythril plating in the cloth.

"Well they certainly have there armor smithing cut out for them," Kai commented, stretching out his arms to relieve the soreness that was acquired when darts that didn't hit the armor found a way to get at his arm.

"Well now, is that some sort of peasant trick your trying to pull, or do you really know how to use a limit?" a voice said from the crowd. Everyone turned to see Kinjo standing there. Anette tensed before replacing any fake knives she had with real ones and promptly going up to Kinjo and socking him hard across the face. He squealed, Anette rolling her eyes.

"Will you get a grip goddammit!?" Anette yelled. Kai and Denzel smirked. Kinjo was dead meat now. "You and I are EQUAL. Just because I lead a less glamorous life doesn't give you a reason to be better than me. Hell, you can't even fight, I could last a hell of a lot longer out there than you could! You're just a spoiled, over pampered, selfish, air headed BASTARD that needs a HUGE attitude adjustment!" Anette put extra emphasis on the last few words, Kinjo looked ready to wet himself.

"I doubt you even know any pain," Anette whispered angrily. Kinjo grimaced as he tasted his own blood, flowing from his nose. "You don't call this pain?" He asked in a whiny voice. Anette rolled her eyes, still infuriated.

"Ever heard of REAL pain? Emotional pain that takes years longer to heal than physical pain. My 'uncle' you could say is currently having lung problems and he could be catching cancer and he might die. Getting over his death would be emotional pain. A petty nose bleed isn't even high ranking on physical pain. You're supposed to be OLDER than me so grow the hell up!" As Anette walked away he asked in a genuinely curious voice, "How is it that you are so tough? How can you withstand all of this, and even have the guts to hit royalty?"

Anette sighed and decided to make this as blunt as possible. "Easy; I grew up learning how to fight and defend myself and my rights one, and two, technically since my mom is royal, I am too, but any hoo, the point is that to me, everyone is equal. Me socking you is just like a peasant socking a peasant or whatever you call them. You trying to put my friend through slavery and then trying to kill her because she gave Isigana a small taste of what I think she deserves… I currently hate you for that. But unfortunately, Kyukan is being and absolute idiot and brought back Sephiroth so I cannot stay here and train the entire bratty attitude out, but when Sephiroth is dead and Kyukan is run down, don't be surprised to find me coming back. If you ARE going to rule, then you better grow up." Anette said every word with ice all along her voice, her eyes growing hard. Kinjo turned away, seeming somewhat ashamed of himself.

"I leave in three days," Anette told him. "Prove to me you will not be a waste of time." Kinjo nodded and got up, taking out a hanky to blot the blood coming out of his nose. Anette rolled her eyes angrily; her back turned so he couldn't tell. "Stupid god damn son of a bitch…" Anette muttered furiously. Kai gently put a hand comfortingly on her shoulder. She turned around, here blazing eyes softened to gentle flames, flickering her and there.

"Hey, calm down; it's not like we could control the fact that he grew up like a spoiled son of a bitch, right?" Kai offered. Anette smiled and nodded her answer. They spent the next two days trying to get back into fighting condition and Anette kept on glancing at Kinjo, noticing that he had started to wear less expensive and haughty clothing and was trying, and miserably failing, to talk like them.

On the last day they were in Wutai, Anette ran into Kinjo. He looked at her less haughtily, but no where near her equal. Anette surveyed him up and down. "Fight me," He told her, pulling out two large daggers with blades coming out from both ends of the grips. Anette smirked and went to her side of the fighting circle, taking off her cloak and throwing it to Kai who instinctively caught it, looking over to see her weapons drawn, no fakes were loaded in.

"Before we start let me warn of two things," Anette warned him. He nodded, trying to suppress the superior look in his eyes.

"One," Anette began, holding up one finger. "This is only the first stage; if I come back to train you, you damn well better be worth it. Not only that, royalty would not approve of the training I will put you through. Second, the training I entail is far, far harsher than you will be able to even imagine. Decide now whether or not you will change."

Kinjo looked like he was deep in thought before raising his head in a nod and assuming position. "Well then, Ancient versus Ancient by the looks of things in this battle," He said a bit nervously, gulping down his pride with much effort. Anette nodded, and noticing that he used close range attacks, took out one of her spare knives, put away one gun and held it in a defensive style that would not harm him, designed specially for long range attackers so they could stun their enemy long enough to get away from them and maybe even fire off a few attacks.

Kai went into the center, raised his buster sword with one arm and after a clean swipe, got out of the way as Kinjo rushed forward, one dagger in offense and the other defensive while Anette summoned her peach blossoms and disappeared before his dagger made contact. She appeared behind him and fired, one of her knives ricocheting off the armor on his back. He turned to see her gone again. He sighed and breathed in as if opening himself to every sense in the world. He heard the knife be fired from his side and snapped his eyes open; catching the knife, spinning and sending it right back at Anette. Anette felt the wind being split by the knife and quickly dodged it, catching it during its flight. She landed on the ground only to have Kinjo immediately on her, his daggers out. She used the knife she caught to defend herself against his attacks. He swung a bit too wide, but wide enough for Anette to go under his arm and ram the butt of the knife into his lower back, felling it make contact with the bone protecting the spine. He doubled over, wincing in the pain from his back as Anette ran behind him and started summoning up her whirlwind of blossoms.

When Kinjo finally recovered from her attack, a tornado of cream orange blossoms surrounded him, some whipping fast enough to leave shallow cuts on his face. Anette fired a bullet only to have it slightly thrown off by the wind and skim his armor. But Kinjo wasn't thinking about that. He was gathering his ability as being part Ancient, one that would save him in this battle. Flames started to flicker around him, licking around his legs, spreading to the rest of his body, acting as a shield and weapon, gathering them around him like leaves on a tree. He screamed as he fought to gather more and more fire power. Finally, he let them loose, watching them burn the blossoms away, Anette forced to escape her own torrent of wind and blossoms to avoid getting burned.

The melee began. Anette had lost control of the wind, so they were stuck in a circle in which there wasn't the room to fire off her weapons safely. She kept on parrying his attacks, both having sweat flow down their face like rivers from this work. The guns were away, throwing knives on hand. Anette threw one and, after Kinjo dodged it and sent it into the tornado, came right back to her from the wind. The battle continued until the wind ceased and Kai and Denzel's jaw dropped to see a knife or a dagger at the other's throat. They had ended it in a tie the whole round.

To name their exact positions, Anette had lost her balance as the wind died down and after quickly drawing out one of her guns, put her hand down to brace the fall and aimed the gun at Kinjo's head while Kinjo was having both of his daggers at her throat like scissors, the two frozen for one second before both put away there weapons.

Anette was getting a dizzy feeling before she nearly collapsed by the time she reached the others, Kai catching her in time. "I always tell you that you don't need to push yourself so hard all the time," Kai told her caringly, Anette's legs having buckled.

She looked up at Kinjo who was equally sweat soaked and said, "You will see me here once more after Sephiroth is gone; make sure to stop looking at everyone so arrogantly." He breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against a nearby tree in weariness and relief. But that temporary happy moment was interrupted by Isigana barging in yelling, "What in Hell's name is going on here?!" She eyed Anette with great anger and then looked at Kinjo and began fretting.

"Look what they've done to you!" She fretted. "You're wearing…peasant clothes and you're scratched and sweaty and bruised. What will the nobles say when they hear this!?" Kinjo wearily raised his head.

"Mother, I chose this on my own," Kinjo said. "I've been a snobby ass hole my whole life thinking I was better than everyone, so I'm changing; you really should try it." Isigana was furious at Anette.

"How dare you do this to my son!?" She shrieked, one of Kinjo's daggers slipping into her hand. Anette shrugged. "I gave him the option; he was the one who chose to take it. Which reminds me I have a boat to catch, so if you'll excuse us-"

"No you don't you little bitch!" She roared, throwing the dagger at her. Kai instinctively pulled her into him and turned so his back plate of his armor would take the damage, hidden by Anette's cloak that he threw over his shoulder when the fight started. Marlene just stepped into view and stared at the woman with pure hatred, her mid-back length hair held loosely with a new, pink silk ribbon.

"Don't you ever, EVER do that again!" Marlene yelled at her, every step insinuated with anger. A thought dawned her and she thought out loud, "This means I can tell Yuffie and Vincent and they can come here and dispose of you…"

Isigana quaked at the thought. "No, don't! Show mercy, please-"

"Mercy!? MERCY!? DID YOU SHOW ME ANY MERCY WHEN YOU TRIED TO ENSLAVE ME, AND THEN EXECUTE ME!?WHAT REASON DO I HAVE TO SHOW YOU MERCY!?" Marlene yelled, slapping the arrogant queen across the face.

Isigana stared up in horror. "Vincent and Yuffie will be notified," Anette told her, an infuriated expression set in her face. "And after we are done, I am coming back to train all of the spoiled behavior out of Kinjo; if he is to rule, I don't want him turning into the bitch you are that turns random people into slaves, so I might as well protect my half-home land." Isigana's eyes showed her anger but she sighed and nodded.

"You will miss your boat, so go," She said in a low tone. Anette nodded and after swinging by their rooms to pick up their newly restocked supplies, headed out to the docks and promptly left. But one thing they never expected was to see Anette throwing up at the side of the boat only an hour into the ride.

"Ugh," Anette groaned after vomiting, Kai holding her hair out of the way, concern etched on his face. "How come you're throwing up? Did some of the food that we ate at Wutai have food poisoning in it?" Nanaki just sat there and laughed nonstop for a minute until Anette snapped, "What's so damn funny?"

"Because," Nanaki stated. "It isn't food poisoning. On trips like this, Yuffie would ALWAYS get motion sickness." Anette stood shocked before turning green again and hastily standing up and vomiting over the side of the ship. Kai assumed his duties once more before looking at Nanaki and asking, "Well? Do we have anything that could help her at the moment?"

"Tranquilizers," He said. "One will keep her from vomiting for twelve hours at best." Kai nodded and went to there pack and got out one dose of it, the needle full of the drug in a safety wrap so you don't accidentally stab yourself and become too, well, tranquilized than normal.

He went back to Anette to find her sitting right where he left her, her looking up at him miserably. Kai offered a weak smiled before sitting down next to her, her head leaning onto his shoulder wearily.

"Next time let's find a route on land," She practically whispered. Kai chuckled as he took out the tranquilizer and carefully slid the needle into the nape of her neck. "We are surrounded by sea on all routes," He whispered, feeling Anette go unconscious in sleep.

He swept her into his arms and carried her over to where he found some soft packs of Wutaian cloth being transported to be sold in trade that Kai used to lay her resting body on, His head drooping off into sleep as he leaned on the packs, his head resting against her waist. A few crewmen exchanged sly grins and a chuckle here and there, but nobody cared too much that they were resting on the good they were supposed to be transporting. If anything, they can say it's so soft, you want to fall asleep on it.

The two woke up three hours later, Anette still drowsy from the tranquilizer. She shifted a little and felt something around her waist move. She looked down to see Kai's head resting on her abdomen, his face turned towards her, eyes closed as he slumbered. She gave a small smile and closed her eyes to go back to sleep for a little bit longer before she woke up again and this time she shifted, Kai woke up too, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"Morning there," Kai yawned, stretching his heavily muscled arms out. Anette smiled and sat up, noticing she was on something soft. "Are you feeling okay now?" Kai asked.

"Yes, thanks for the tranquilizer," Anette told him gratefully, standing up and stretching so her palms were flat on the floor. They went up to the prow of the boat to join the others who were passing the time with a game the sailors had called Pente (by the way, Pente is a real game; me and sis play all the time! if anyone else plays, let me know!)

Denzel was thinking, a hand on his chin, the other braced against his knee as he sat on a crate, before moving his clear glass piece onto the grid. Marlene grinned and put one diagonal of it, forming a straight line of five red glass gems that gleamed in the sun.

"Pente," She called out triumphantly. "Damn it! How did I not see that!?" Denzel yelled, pounding one fist on the table. Marlene giggled and when she noticed Kai and Anette standing there she smiled. "Glad to see that sleeping beauty and prince charming decided to awaken." A blush from both Kai and Anette followed.

"So how do you play this game?" Anette asked, sitting down in a now vacated seat from Denzel. Marlene put the beads in their respective bags and then started explaining. "It's a pretty simple game. See the grid and how it has occasional diamonds printed on certain points? Those are the places you can start. The goal is to either get five straight beads in a row or to capture five pairs of your enemy's beads. The way you capture is by sandwiching two of your opponent's beads between yours. But if your opponent puts a bead inside of two of your beads with one of your opponent's beads already in there, it isn't a capture because the opponent can't capture themselves. So, you want to play?"

Anette nodded and picked up the small sack of red beads, widening out the strings and taking one out of the bag. The five spent the rest of the day talking, playing Pente, and if you are Anette, occasionally throwing up. At one point, Anette called Yuffie sometime before sunset. When Yuffie saw the slight green tinge in her face she looked slightly guilty. "So I guess you're as like me as your father predicted," She quipped.

"Isigana tried to throw a knife at me before we left; Thankfully they had fitted us with armor, so Kai had used his back plate to take the blow, but-"

"God damn that woman! That's it!" Yuffie screamed, Anette wincing at the sudden burst in voice from her nausea. "Mom, please try NOT to yell when I'm like this," She pleaded.

"Sorry dear," Yuffie offered a weak smile before Vincent came in the room asking, "You were yelling. What is the matter this time?"

"Isigana threw a knife at Anette before they left," Yuffie explained. Vincent's face darkened with anger as his hand brushed by Death Penalty on the stand a few feet away from them.

"Have Cid start up the Highwind; it's time we paid her a visit," Vincent said in a low voice. Anette saw trouble rearing in its head and immediately blurted for reasons even she didn't know, "But I promised to go back there after we defeated Sephiroth to train Kinjo into a much less snobby person for when he goes to rule so he isn't the kind of bitch his mother is!" Yuffie and Vincent stared at her for a minute.

Vincent sighed and said, "That is quite the noble thing to do Anette, but we still must at least have a talk face-to-face with Isigana; having knives thrown at my daughter with murderous intent is not something I would like to happen again." Anette gave him a skeptical look as he still strapped on Death Penalty and added in extra gun powder and materia. Feeling her skeptical glance he simply explained, "When you go through as many experiences as I go through in life, you always bring your weapon wherever you go."

Yuffie smiled and took Conformer off from its rack over the fireplace. "Don't worry sweetheart; we won't attack unless she does," She said comfortingly to her daughter. Anette nodded, though with her loading in Leviathan, it didn't reassure her too much.

"Bye mom, good bye father," She whispered, waving at them. "Goodbye Anette," They answered.

They finally got off the boat and arrived in Junon Harbor. When they were nearing the shore, Anette gasped at the size of the cannon.

"Damn," All four whispered as they neared shore, Nanaki smirking and jumped off the boat and on to the port with the others following.

A few hours later in Wutai…

Yuffie stormed through the streets with the rest of AVALANCHE close behind, many bystanders bowing with looks of shock at her sudden return, whispers ringing through the fruit stands at the golden band on her left ring finger and at the identical ring on the tall dark man's hand that was next to her. Yuffie's storm eyes were blazing up a thunderstorm as she strode forward into the great hall where the dancers froze, servers stopped bringing food and in the center of it all, Isigana had one expression on her face: oh shit.

Yuffie began yelling at Isigana relentlessly in her native language. Though only Vincent could understand what they were saying, this was the translation:

"Shame! Shame! May you be shamed in Leviathan's glory for your actions Isigana of Wutai! You disgrace the crown and all that stand for it!" Nobles watched, there faces eager to hear why Yuffie, the lost wanderer as many called her, had returned and began verbally assaulting their queen. But Yuffie did not stop there.

"My daughter was attacked by the Midgar Zealot that escaped from the marsh recently and has been banking along the shores of Junon," Yuffie started, holding up a newspaper to show her proof. "She and her friends lost the fight and wound up on the shores of this village. Instead of sending them back on the right track with the regards and care of a good aunt, you try to sell them into slavery, and then, when one of her friends tries to stand up for her rights, you try to kill her! Shame, Shame, May you forever be banished from the sanctuary of the wings of Leviathan! But wait; you did not stop there! No, being that cruel isn't good enough! When my daughter tried to help your child to become a better leader, you threw a knife at her murderously and the only reason she survived is because her boyfriend pulled her into him and let the back plate of his armor take the blow! Shame, Shame, May all the shame in the world be bestowed upon this queen, the queen of murder, the queen of cruelty! Shame!"

Under his cloak, Vincent smirked. The only reason she was talking well, not like herself, was to get the nobles that were sitting in the room on her side since they wouldn't understand her blunt, normal talk. It really amazed him how many rolls she could take up at once. After he finished translating it to the others, he went up and put a hand reassuringly on her shuddering shoulder.

She looked up and his calm embers flickered at her storm eyes. They immediately softened at his gaze, though she still shook a little. She looked up at Isigana once more and added, "And shame on you for insulting my husband."

If the nobles weren't surprised earlier they were now. Yuffie was married and had a child. They noticed how Vincent hugged her from behind and Yuffie leaned herself against him, how her gaze softened as soon as her eyes met his. To many, it was real love that no contract or arrangement could break in the laws of nobles.

"What is the meaning of this Isigana!?" One of the nobles cried out in a language all could understand, anger shaking in his voice. Many ripples of agreement in anger and confusion followed.

Isigana glanced around at the uproar around her. Yuffie had a smirk playing on her face now. "You must have a way around this auntie; after all, you are the queen." Every word was dripping with venom and sarcasm. The nobles stopped their uproar and one came forward to announce.

"A duel of arts is demanded! If Isigana loses, her son must take the throne!" Many agreements came with that. Isigana sighed and asked, "Dance, song, or instrument?"

"Song!" The nobles chorused. Yuffie nodded and stepped forward, clearing her throne, and preparing a song her mother had taught her before she passed away.

_(Owned by Hyde, not me!)_

_I lay awake beside the windowsill_

_Like a lower in a vase_

_A warm cauldron glass…mmm…_

_The rays of sunlight come and beckon me…_

_To a sleep of dreamy haze_

_A sense of summer days…aa…_

_If only I could stop the flow of time_

_Turn the clock to yesterday_

_Erasing all the pain…mmm…_

_I've only memories of happiness_

_Such pleasures we have shared_

_I'd do it all over again_

_The scenery is evergreen_

_As buds turn into leaves_

_The colors live and breathe_

_This scenery is evergreen _

_Your tears are falling silently_

_So full of joy you are a child of spring_

_With a beauty so pure_

_An innocence endures…aa…_

_You flow right through me like medicine_

_Bringing quiet to my soul_

_Without you I'm not whole_

_The scenery is evergreen_

_I need you far too much_

_I long to feel your touch_

_The scenery is evergreen_

_You've always been so dear to me_

_The scenery is evergreen_

_It sorrows at the sight of seeing you sad_

_The scenery is evergreen _

_I wish that I could dry your tears_

_The bells have rung the time has come_

_I cannot find the words to say my last goodbye_

_The scenery is evergreen_

_You've always been so dear to me_

All stood in amazement at the beauty of Yuffie's voice. Her eyes held a small tear within them, a storm threatening to spill from her grey clouds. Isigana stared in shock before raising her hands in defeat.

"I know who sang that; to go against her would just add more shame to my record; in plus, it's time Kinjo took over anyhow," Isigana sighed in defeat. Yuffie smiled and felt her tears slide down her face, Vincent embracing her affectionately.

"That was from your mother, wasn't it?" Vincent asked softly, her head leaning against his chest. Yuffie nodded before reluctantly letting go of him and walking outside.

"Come on guys; there is someone I must show you," Yuffie said, stealing red and white roses from the entrance hall before taking a left into the royal grave hills. By the time they reached the top of one hill, most of the group was heaving. But not Yuffie. She walked forward timidly until she was only an inch away from a large grave stone that had her mother's name on it. She gingerly held out her hand to touch the stone, a light forming along the name that was etched in the stone. The light grew until the most beautiful woman anyone had ever seen stepped out of the stone to meet Yuffie.

She became less and less transparent until she could have actually been standing there if she wasn't bound to that place; like Aeris and the church. She had really long hair that was so black, it shined blue in the sun. Her porcelain skin was soft and round, her whole body slim, yet perfectly round in every place. Her rose lips and cheeks gave a small, but beautiful contrast to her skin, big dark brown eyes filled with gentleness and love for the woman ahead of her(aka, Yuffie). The kimono she wore was a gentle green color that had cherry blossoms at the end of it. All in all, she was an absolute goddess.

"Mother…" Yuffie whispered gently. She reached out to touch the woman and felt the silk. Someone must have on purposely bound her there because her spirit had resumed the shape of its old body and was actually solid.

Yuffie clung onto the woman tightly, tears spilling out at will. The woman gently returned the embrace, gently patting Yuffie's hair. "It is alright child. You mustn't fret so much; and who is this with the wedding ring on his finger that I also see on yours? I may have died, but there is no need to mourn; this is a happy time, so let us rejoice in you letting me meet this man." Yuffie's mother's voice poured from her voice like liquid sun, sweet, caring, and gentle all at the same time. Yuffie reluctantly loosened her grip on her mother and Vincent came over to her putting a reassuring arm around her waist, Yuffie's mother looking between the two before announcing, "You have had a child already; I can tell from your spirit."

Yuffie didn't say anything. She just nodded, more tears coming as the radiant woman began to fade slowly. Before her hand became a wisp of wind, The woman tilted Yuffie's head up to meet her eyes and asked, "What did I tell you about the stars?"

"That those who you love that died will always watch you as a star."

She smiled genuinely. "Then you know that I am always here; you just need to search harder." The image of the woman faded away like sand in a desert and left them all standing on the hill, the roses Yuffie put by her grave gleaming a bit.

Yuffie burst into tears, throwing herself on Vincent. He held her to him, understanding how tough this must be for her to face one she loved more than life itself after she passed away. After an hour of Yuffie just standing with Vincent by the grave, Tifa put a hand on Yuffie's shoulder and said, "Let's go home; we can plant her flowers in the garden." Yuffie nodded and wiped her eyes, standing up.

As they headed down the hill, Vincent tilted Yuffie's head up to face him, her tear streaked face carrying depression within it. He caressed one side of her face with his organic hand, leaning down to kiss her passionately, pulling her into him. When they broke apart, Yuffie looked up and smiled.

"Thanks; I needed that," She said gratefully.

"Let's go home," He whispered

Oh my frikkin' god, I am SO sorry for the slow update! My school play is this week, so we have had to have really late rehearsals all week! Well, make sure to review!

Ichi


	7. Gone

Ugh! Me is exhausted! But I now have more free time to update faster. Speaking of such, do not forget to review! Also, I feel so excited!! XD my school play was a big success and a boy even gave me a rose for doing good (I feel special!). Well, on to more pressing matters, I will update as much as I can, but I have the wheels turning for a new fan fiction under Kingdom Hearts, Firefly, Harry Potter, AND another FF 7 so when this is done I shall get on it! And just to put up a warning, if you do not like own characters being paired with real characters (in mine, its own character and Axel; what KH 2 fan girl doesn't like him!?) then I do not suggest reading my fic. Well, enjoy the chapter (and is it me, or do I put a lot of songs in my fan fiction? This one has no songs in it, but I am thinking about putting links to where you can listen to the songs at the end of this chapter. Damn, I leave long Author notes…)

Disclaimer: I do not own final fantasy. But my sis is playing final fantasy 12 and the moogles in it are so cute!!!! Also, they are so awesome! I mean, have you seen them!? They're just so 'Awww'!

Anette gratefully got off the boat, emptying her stomach one last time over the dock. After that was done, Kai handed her his water skin in which Anette swished some water in her mouth to get rid of the acidic taste, swallowing some to calm her system.

"Thanks," She said, her spirits slightly lifted now that they were off that wretched boat. She looked right above her to see the cannon looming overhead. She shivered temporarily, the feeling that the cannon barrel would break and land on top of her any second.

"Why the hell did they build something that big?" Anette asked, bewildered.

"Easy," Nanaki responded. "They have power in their military, so they make sure others know in case a rebellion like AVALANCHE was created."

"Well, that didn't work too well, now did it," Denzel commented.

The five went to an inn and set everything up to stay for the next few days. But now the biggest question came: What were they going to do now that they were IN Junon? It took a few weeks more than they planned thanks to their 'short cut', but now what would they do?

"Well, allow me to ask the obvious, which is, what now?" Marlene stated bluntly in one of the rooms they were staying in.

"We originally came here in suspicion of Sephiroth showing up, and I can smell the reek of Mako in the air," Nanaki reminded them.

Anette was confused. "You can smell Mako?"

Nanaki sighed. "I don't have quadrupled the sensitivity to scent for no reason."

"Well, all that aside, do you think that Sephiroth is here?" Kai asked, all of the sudden seeming a lot like Cloud in the prime of his journey as AVALANCHE's leader.

Nanaki sighed. "I don't know; it's hard to tell. But at this point, I remember that on the ship to Costa De La Sol, he was on board, so we know he can disguise himself and can stealth about places. Anette, you have experience as a ninja, no doubt trained from your mother." Anette nodded anxiously. "One of the techniques opens your mind to everything around you right?" She nodded again, her eyes betraying the calm look on her face.

"I think it is wisest to wait to see if Kyukan will be holding any important public speaking, then it will be you job to open your senses and try to find Sephiroth within the crowd; I'm sure he has his own ideas about destroying Kyukan. Once we sense him, its best that we get his presence out in the open and use a barrier to force everyone out of the way, or send them home or something. Personally, we are out to get rid of Kyukan. So if he gets rid of them for us, so much the better. But we must try to solve this peacefully first, as Anette mentioned before we came to the massacred town. But remember! Discretion is the greater part of Valor! It is better that we try and keep the presence of AVALANCHE down low for now. Understood?"

Everyone nodded before going to their respective rooms, Denzel and Marlene exchanging a quick kiss before they headed out the door, glad their relationship was out in the open enough that they don't have to hide it anymore. When the door closed, Anette looked out the window longingly.

"Why did they have to do this?" She asked pleadingly. "Why did Kyukan have to come? Why? Why?" She hated this. Because of Kyukan, her happy, peaceful life had been turned around. She was constantly on guard duty just because she wanted to see the stars, being one of her very few comforts in the day. Always fighting and going through towns, hearing and seeing events of bloody massacre done by a man in a black cloak.

She felt the skin under her left eye and it felt wet, a salty tear from her other eye sliding down to have it's bitter taste invade her mouth. Kai went over to her and held her in his arms as she rested her head on his chest.

"I don't know why," he responded, affectionately rubbing her shoulder as the two gazed out the window. "All I know is that we have to stop them and Sephiroth, and after that, there will be peace. Time for us all to go home, and go back to our normal lives. We might even go on a date along the way."

Anette gave a small laugh, realizing that their adventure had started so soon, she hadn't even been able to go on a date with Kai. "Possibly…that is as long as another damn mako-sucking company doesn't come and suck out mako."

"Yeah…" Kai half said through some sort of daze. Anette blinked and suddenly the moon seemed half-red or something. The warm embrace that held her went cold as a voice that wasn't near Kai warm and gentle voice whispered in her ear menacingly, "Looking for me, aren't you? What a coincidence! How I've been dying to kill you…"

Anette's brow furrowed these sights and voices not leaving her alone. Kai heard her whimper and looked down with concern. "Anette? What's wrong?"

Anette didn't respond. She squeezed her eyes shut, bringing her hands up to her head, shaking it a bit. "Get…get out of my head!" She screamed, some kind of pain obviously happening inside her mind.

"Who? Who is in your head? Anette, snap out of it!" Kai said a bit more forcefully than he meant, gently shaking her, hoping she would come out of this state.

Anette kept thrashing until she fell on the floor, curled in a ball. "Naki! Naki, get your red furry ass in here now!" Kai yelled urgently, getting to the floor to help Anette.

Nanaki burst in and ran to the spot where Anette was having her mental breakdown, Denzel and Marlene close behind.

"I am sorry Kai, but I have to do this, for Anette's sake," Nanaki said before whapping Anette extremely hard across the cheek with his flaming tail, a burn mark evident where he hit. She fell to the floor, her rambling stopped as her hand shot to her new injury, tears forming in her eyes. Kai gingerly went to help her off the floor, Anette retreating to his arms for safety, tears spilling uncontrollably as she realized what had happened.

"I'm sorry," Anette said. "I am so, so sorry. Sephiroth literally dug into my mind, whispering words of torture and agony in my head…I wanted it to stop. I wanted him to go away. It felt like he was right there, the butt of the Masamune, rubbing the skin on my back raw…it felt so real, yet it wasn't."

Nanaki nodded sympathetically. "I am sorry for that burn Anette; it was all I could do to get you out of that state." Anette nodded her face still so white with fear that the burn mark looked like blood in snow almost.

"Sephiroth has the power to do that; literally go inside you mind and target your one weakness and make you go insane with it. But that is WHY we fight. Because we know that if he is kept alive, he will destroy all of us. Did he give anything away to you?"

Anette nodded, shivering slightly, and then relaxed as Kai put an ice cold cloth against her burn, Denzel taking out aloe lotion from their pack designed for burns.

"He told me there was a public speaking tomorrow; that he would wreak his havoc and leave cities in burning ruins once more…unless the one with Ancient blood was surrendered to him." Everyone froze. The only one with Ancient blood in the city was Anette. They understood why she went into that state now. She was terrified of the torture he would give her and the havoc he would wreak if she DIDN'T fess up.

"Well, he's walked us into a pretty little trap, now hasn't he?" Kai said sourly, carefully applying the lotion to her burn, her face relaxing with relief as the stinging pain was cooled by the faint green cream being rubbed on her wound.

"We have no choice," Nanaki said. "We must show up to that public speaking tomorrow and do what we can; Sephiroth obviously wants to finish what he started by taking this out on Kyukan, so there is no real use in just hiding away while Sephiroth continues his sick trade." This was all something everyone could agree on.

"Why me?" Anette sobbed. Of all the things she wished, she wished she could go home. That all of this would disappear and she and Kai could just go home and live in peace. She wished that Sephiroth was gone, that he was defeated and the world was celebrating, with the white blossoms falling from the sky, like when Sephiroth and Meteor were destroyed and like she saw in pictures of Tifa and Cloud's wedding.

But of everything else in the world, she wished to be home, safe under her father's wing, memories of his cloak billowing around both of them in the wind, his precision in firing Death Penalty when he trained her how to handle herself on her own in the wild and how to kill monsters. But that was all just a wish, and who ever said that every wish we made came true?

"Sh now, I'm here, your safe," Kai cooed reassuringly, hugging her to him, her arms gently resting on his shoulders. Anette gave smile. She may not have her ever-watchful father protecting her, but Kai's arms were just as good. Anette closed her eyes and rested against him, making it clear that she wanted to sleep like this, with Kai's arms protecting her always. Nanaki sighed and whispered, "Keep her calm for now; I don't want to lose her tomorrow." Kai nodded, knowing that feeling all too well.

"Don't say that; you know she isn't," Kai said, clinging slightly harder to the sleeping maiden in his arms.

Nanaki sighed. "You never know."

Kai looked down at Anette who was currently asleep and sighed. He knew that she may not be seen again starting tomorrow. He would do all he could though. He carefully set her down on the bed so she was laying on her side without a burn mark and resumed his embrace, falling asleep himself, trying to make the most of what rest he could have before his day of dread.

The next day, the AVALANCHE crew woke at an early hour, too nervous to get decent sleep. Anette woke first from a burning sensation on her cheek. She shifted to get some lotion and Kai's eyes snapped open, glancing around for anyone other Anette in the room as if Sephiroth would walk in any second.

"It's okay," Anette said quietly. "It's just me." Kai was still tense. She put her hand gently on his upper arm, feeling his strong muscles crawl in tension. His gaze went to her immediately as it interlocked with her gaze. "It's just me." They kissed passionately right then, Anette forgetting her burn and Kai leaving his tense state. They just sat there kissing like that for a half hour, never wanting to leave each other like this, wanting to forget what might happen today.

But they couldn't forget, nor could they stay like that. Because people were seen gathering outside and they knew it was nearing time for the big public speech. They reluctantly broke apart and got ready for the worst, both realizing the inevitable. If Anette was not handed over, the whole world would have to pay for it.

The AVALANCHE crew blended in with the crowd and watched as the founder of Kyukan got up to the microphone in town square, waving and trying to act all charming to get the crowd on his side. Polite applause answered it.

"Welcome my good citizens, to an important announcement in which you may express your opinions openly," He said, gripping the podium lightly.

"Does that mean we can call him the bastard he is?" Denzel asked lightly, everyone in AVALANCHE suppressing a laugh.

"We have found a rich vein of Mako energy just barely south of here and we are opening a Mako plant there shortly, giving everyone here easy access to energy," He said as if he was announcing this to children almost. "We understand that some people live near there and we request that they move into the separate living space that we have provided until this is done and they will have new homes to go to. Who here objects to this?"

Almost everyone objected. But amidst all these people, one person yelled, "What use will the Mako reactor be once I destroy it!?" One cloaked village person with long silver hair threw the ragged cloak off to reveal Sephiroth in all of his sick, evil glory.

There were many screams and people backing up as the Masamune was drawn from its long scabbard and aimed at the throat of the Kyukan founder. "Maybe I should just destroy you all anyway…let the shrieks of agony be heard through the streets... or you could just hand over the damn Ancient blooded girl and be done with It.!!"

Anette tensed and gripped Kai's hand tightly, her face staying neutral so Sephiroth wouldn't notice her as much as she used her cloak to try and cover herself better.

A small child tried to run, whimpering as she went, clutching to a beloved moogle doll when Sephiroth leapt into the air and landed with the Masamune dangerously close to the girl's throat. She let out a cry in fear, but then shut up just as quickly at the maniac look in his eyes.

"What a pleasure it would be torturing this one," Sephiroth continued in his insane tone of voice. "To hear such a pure thing cry out in pain, to feel her innocent, short life drain at my fingertips, and to go through the same thrill with every single child when I'm done. Either the Ancient blooded one steps forward now, or this one will be the first to go!"

The blade got increasingly close, agonizing Anette even more. Just as the blade punctured the poor girl's skin, Anette yelled desperately, "Stop! Stop! Please, I'll go, torture me to death, but don't! Don't kill or harm anyone! Please…just stop this…"

Kai's fearful gaze froze on Anette, her eyes showing how much she regretted this.

"I love you," She whispered. Kai felt his heart pang with hurt, seeing that she didn't have a choice now. His eyes bore his sadness. Sephiroth's eyes widened madly at the sight of the 'Ancient blooded' one, giving the child time to run to her mother, while he walked to her slowly, the gaze between her and Kai never breaking or wavering. Nanaki himself was angry. He roared with all of his might and anger, making all whose attention was on Sephiroth turn to him, all but Kai and Anette.

"Do not think a kitten's purr will scare me," Sephiroth said, reaching Anette and digging his claw-like fingers into her upper arm. She screamed as his fingers pierced her skin and went through her muscle. Kai ran forward, drawing his buster sword, but was stopped when he saw Masamune be raised to her throat.

"I personally want to torture this one for days if I can; let the last thing standing in my way from summoning a power greater than Meteor die slowly, letting me savor it…" Sephiroth said. "However, try anything, and I will make sure to cut that short!" His sword made his point.

Marlene had unknowingly 'borrowed' one of Anette's knives for this. She took it out and grunted with effort as she threw it, though its poor aim missed him completely and skidded as it left a scratch on the asphalt ground.

Sephiroth walked backwards into a gate of darkness as tall as him and he and Anette disappeared. Kai fell to his knees, tears forming. She was gone. Anette was really gone. True, they had a few days to save her, but he had no idea where Sephiroth would take her, giving them little to none chance of getting there on time. She was gone.

Kai's emotions switched from sorrow to anger. Anger at the founder of Kyukan for starting this in the first place. Anger that they had brought back Sephiroth. But most of all, anger that he would never see Anette again because of them. His eyes snapped up, his tears welded with rage and ran to Kyukan, throwing punches and kicks, scratches and bruises, anything he could do, he did.

"I hate you!" Kai yelled. "Because of YOU, we were forced to leave home and to try to defeat Sephiroth! Because of YOU, my love will die, because of YOU starting to suck all of this damn Mako from the planet AGAIN when no good can come of it, I lost her…I lost Anette…" his punches and kicks slowed to a stop as he fell to the ground in sobs. "I lost the only person that really mattered to me in the world….god damn, now Vincent's gonna kill me…"

President Kyukan was currently a beaten bloody mess, but when he saw Kai under so much anguish from what he had caused, he became oblivious as to why he had even tried to bring the trend of Mako back. The crowd watched this, some with guilt for following a man that created this suffering, some sympathetic to Kai.

"Not quite," Marlene suddenly said behind him, a strange confidence in her voice that puzzled Kai, a mischievous grin on her face. "What did you do…?" Kai asked, a little edgy of this sudden confidence.

"You know when I threw one of Anette's knives and I missed? That was a planned miss! The butt of it had a transmitter on a string that got attached to his cloak as the knife flew past, so if we know where he is, we're sure to find-"

But she couldn't finish, because Kai just caught her in a REALLY tight hug, cutting her air short. She struggled for air until Denzel finally said, "Kai, let the poor girl breathe!"

"Oh," Kai said, smiling sheepishly before setting Marlene down who graciously took in air, taking deep breaths until she wasn't panting.

"But the kicker is that we need to tell Yuffie and Vincent their daughter was kidnapped by Sephiroth to be slowly tortured until she dies," Nanaki pointed out. "And their going to want to talk to Kai if someone is going to tell them."

"Uh, if I may," Kyukan said, stepping forward nervously. All of AVALANCHE glared at him, wondering what the one who caused all of this had to do with any rescue attempt.

"I am shutting down once that menace is killed," Kyukan said, obviously regretting the business he will lose. "After seeing your reaction to me, I decided it would be better to try a different way to make energy. I assume the rest of you have the need to punch me?"

Everyone glanced at each other. "Nope, Kai did all that for us," Marlene put bluntly. "But we have three conditions: one, you help us find Sephiroth and Anette, two you help us get there so we can kill him and save Anette, and three, right after that, you go out of business. Are we clear?" He nodded. The old kook looked ready to die anyways, obviously weary of old age, bags showing under his slightly glazed eyes, a face that had many wrinkles. The old man gave a chuckle. "That's if I live through all this…especially with the disease I've caught from the Mako…different from Mako poisoning, a kind that leaves me a few weeks at best…I might as well shut down after this."

Kai sighed. He was victim to a disease from his own business. How ironic. "Well, let's get to work; I refuse to let Anette die, I swear it now. Even if I die, I will bring her home safe and sound!"

Kai took his PHS and strode to where he could be left in silence as he made the call to Yuffie and Vincent. This was not going to be good.

"Hello?" Yuffie's voice came through, curious on why Kai was calling.

"Uh, auntie, I suggest you sit down and get Vincent; I have bad news," Kai said uneasily. Yuffie looked much more worried but did what he said. Vincent was as confused as she was.

"What's going on Kai? I don't like the sound of this," Vincent asked sternly. Kai readied himself before saying as best as he could, "Anette was kidnapped by Sephiroth and he plans to torture her, and then kill her. Apparently she's the only one left in the world with enough Ancient blood to prevent him from calling another Meteor."

Yuffie looked in utter shock, sadness, and finally just burst into tears, clinging to Vincent as if her life depended on it. Vincent was seething in rage. "He plans to do WHAT!?"

Kai's own tears were starting to surface, but he brushed them away and hoped nobody noticed. "Thankfully, Marlene was smart enough to get a transmitter on him – don't even ask how – so we can track where he's going and find Anette."

Vincent's inferno gaze turned to Kai's, making Kai feel scared enough to cringe, even through the PHS. "If you don't bring her home safe boy, there WILL be hell to pay, you understand?" Kai gulped and nodded, beads of sweat forming. His uncle Vincent was MORE than persuading. If he asked to get the world like he did now, hell, he'd be parading around as king of the planet this second.

"I will get back to you when we have a further plan," Kai said, noticing that Yuffie was still sobbing. "And I swear by the blood in my veins that I will bring Anette home safe, even at the cost of my life!" Vincent nodded his gaze still harsh and angry. With that done, Kai gave a solemn nod and ended the call.

Oo00oO

"How could he!? How could he?" Yuffie choked, her knuckles white from clinging on to Vincent, tears spilling from her eyes. He put his arms around her comfortingly, his furious gaze turning warm and gentle.

"Hush now love, Kai is a man of his word; the only way she won't come home safe is if they both die, which even you have to admit is going to be quite hard on Sephiroth." Yuffie didn't seem too assured.

"Yuffie, have you ever known our daughter to give up?" Yuffie shook her head. "Then you know that she will try and bite the bullet as long as she can in hopes of the others coming. Her fighting spirit won't let her go so easily. She will come home safe; may that be assured." Yuffie's eyes lightened a bit, but she got up and gingerly took Conformer down from its hook above the fire.

"Cid, I need a ride to Junon!" She called up the steps. Everyone came down as she explained the situation. At the end of things, Tifa, Cloud and Barrett were coming along with Yuffie and Vincent. Cid was at a point with his lungs whereas he could fly, but he really couldn't fight; the Venus Gospel was just too much to lift now.

"Those kids are still fresh on the road; I think they will need help if they're taking down Sephiroth," was Yuffie's explanation.

And all the while during the ride to meet them in Junon, Vincent quietly seethed in rage at Sephiroth.

_Nobody does this to MY daughter and gets away with it!_

Okee, apologies for the long update. It seems kinda sad that I give so many sorry excuses because I should be able to update more often, but alas, I apologize. Have a happy Thanksgiving! (a review would be a really nice gift!)

Ichi


	8. All thoughts on them

Hi once more to my readers! Okay, so I said last chapter that I would put in links to you tube that would let you actually listen to all the songs that my fan fictions have in them and just a few other links to awesome songs just for the hell of it! So here they are!!! BUT READ THIS BEFORE CLICKING ON THOSE LINKS! IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY PLAYING FINAL FANTASY X-2, DO NOT WATCH THE 1000 WORDS ONE BECAUSE THAT CONTAINS SPOILERS! (I usually just hit play and then bar it so I don't see the clips if it has spoilers in it) Thank you, that is all.

Hyde's Shallow Sleep: box's 1000 words: Whedon's 'Serenity': Evergreen: Mizerable: finally, Gackt's Last Song: enjoy the music! Now then, before this starts up, this chapter will mainly focus on the team's thoughts and their past and how they are reacting to Anette getting into a life or death situation. Now let's get on with the show!

Disclaimer: I do not own square enix, nor do I own any of the songs above.

Anette woke to feel rocky dirt scraping against her back, butt and legs. She wearily looked down to see she was being dragged across the ground, scratches and bruises evident on her exposed calves. An iron grip remained literally inside her arm which felt like it was going to get torn of any second. She glanced up and saw long silver hair, a black cloak and an equally dark single wing that would have been an angel wing if it wasn't so black and ragged. She winced as they moved from rocky ground to salty, even coarser turf, biting on her tongue as not to cry out, hoping to hell that Sephiroth wouldn't notice she's awake. He might just make her life worse then it already is.

_Kai…mother, father…aw, hell, anyone, get me away from this monster _Anette pleaded in her mind, eyes directed to the midnight sky as the compassionate stars looked down upon her, their healing light seeming tantalizingly close, yet they were millions of miles away.

Oo00oO (Vincent's 1st person POV)

I stood at the prow of the Highwind, its long ramming nose shining proudly in the moonlight. My scowling face was hidden in the cowl of the cloak that Anette left behind when she was kidnapped by Sephiroth. My instincts not only as a Turk, but also as a father were kicking in. I know where Sephiroth is taking her with many thanks to Marlene; I must give that drunken fool Barrett some credit for training a bright girl. Sephiroth is going back to the crater whence we last sought battle with him; It seems somewhat fitting that we are about to kill him where he last was defeated.

Yuffie sat silently not a foot away. I felt her gaze on me, but she knows that I must not be interrupted in thought right now, not when I am trying to plan things out.

I shall not and will not allow dear Anette to die at his hands or by any other hands then by the natural hands of death from age! I know now that she is not the small child that was so intent on clinging to me when scared, but a grown, strong young woman that chose to walk this path and chose to put her life on the line for her land. All the same, I love her dearly and Sephiroth will not have his way so easily. Though she may protest, she is still the child I cared for and never let out of my sight as an infant.

May the Lifestream, no, the Planet itself guard her life.

Oo00oO (Yuffie's 1st person POV)

I sat silently on the prow next to Vincent who was standing but a foot away with me, his eyes gazing out to the sky, showing he was deep in thought. I learned over the years not to interrupt these important moments in time, because that usually meant he was using his superlative brain to figure out some master plan and making everything better…at least I hope he is.

I myself was up past my head in worry and anxiety. It pains me to know that my sweet daughter is on the edge of death with that damn insane idiot Sephiroth over near the crater that he died last…well, here's one for irony's sake.

For some odd reason, I can't help but have the feeling a certain star (cough cough, AERIS, cough cough) might intervene a little bit, but hey, allies are good when it comes to Sephiroth.

But I feel so god damn horrible for just sitting at home and allowing this to happen! I wish to hell that I would come along, but then I glanced at Cid, which by the way should be at HOME, in BED, resting his CACEROUS lungs, not flying a f&ing AIRSHIP, and I realized that although I don't have any form of cancer, I can't even take an hour of training without calling it quits, unlike me just before Vincent and I left to part that damn demon from him, who could take four hours of training at least.

All I can do now is hope and pray we might get some help. Anette, dear sweet Anette, don't die, just hang in there long enough for 'reinforcements' to come.

Oo00oO (Cloud's 1st person POV)

I looked down at the lower platform of the hull and my son with his, erm, my old buster sword sitting next to him, and his back hunched over and face in his hands, obviously contemplating over something, and I had a good guess at what. I sighed and went down to talk to him. When Tifa went into a coma, I felt the same, but with little Anette getting tortured by Sephiroth instead, it's probably worse.

I put a hand on his shoulder and he looked up sharply, but then sighed and lost the sharpness in his gaze, turning back into his depressive state.

"Mind telling your old man why you're in a depressed mood and not busying about trying to get things ready to go save Anette and kill Sephiroth like most of the others inside?" I asked bluntly. Knowing how my son was so much like me, I doubt beating around the bush was going to help his mood any.

"I let her down father," Kai said, his eyes still downcast. "I promised her I would protect her, all those years back, and I couldn't do it."

"You _were_ protecting her though."

Kai looked up at him with a confused expression on his face. "You call letting her be kidnapped by Sephiroth PROTECTING her? God, you better not be getting Alzheimer's on me now-"

"Hey! That's not what I meant!" I intervened quickly, not liking how this was getting off topic, or I just didn't like being called so old.

"Kai, let me ask you something," I started out cleanly and calmly. "Would you rather let Anette live a few days so we would have a chance to save her, or would you prefer her life cut short with no chance?"

"I'd keep her alive for a fighting chance of course!"

"If you tried to attack Sephiroth and free Anette from him right then, he would have killed her. The reason your body wouldn't let you step forward to save her then was because you subconsciously knew that he was really going to slit her throat right then if he had to. By not going forward, you gave her a longer amount of time to live."

Kai's eyes widened in shock. "But won't she be mad at me for not even making a move once the Masamune got close to her throat? My whole body just froze up!" Kai exclaimed. I sighed and got up and went over to the sword.

"There was one thing about this sword I never told you about," I said, hitting a latch on it. It opened up and all seven parts of it came loose. I took two parts off of it and left the rest of the blade folded up for Kai to use in the battle.

"The seven blades here can unleash quite a powerful attack," I continued. "Enough of one to deliver a final blow to Sephiroth. When the time comes, help will be necessary for it, for max attack power. I suggest you prepare yourself." Kai hid his face in thought as I was about to leave the hull.

"Never forget Kai," I started, getting his attention. "If you ever need to receive council from someone, just look up."

He understood who I was talking about and nodded, seeking the sky as the bright orange glow of the sun rising above the horizon with the fierceness of the day's mood, the stars still visible above him, giving him a ten minutes at best.

I walked off and left my son in peace, seeing as he would need it to contact the one I instructed him to. I give every blessing in my heart to him and Anette and hope to Hell that Sephiroth hasn't killed her, not yet.

Oo00oO (Kai's regular POV)

Kai sat alone at the hull, staring up at the sky after some advice from his father to seek council from Aeris, who was now a star among many in the sky, watching over them.

"Alright Aeris," He said, closing his eyes. "Some tough times are rolling in and I don't know what the hell I'm doing."

A faint giggle was heard inside his head. **Well we ought to fix that, now shall we?** A green eyed brown haired girl in a pink dress stood in his mind, fixed in the church.

**Well, start talking please, because once my star fades in the sun, I have to go. **

Kai sighed and explained his situation and quick and as best he could, eyes fixed on the oh so slowly fading star.

He finished with his eyes going downcast only a few minutes after, hands covering his face once more.

**Well, moping won't do much good for one, **Aeris started, the image of her airily counting off what to do on her elegant fingers, her nails reaching past her finger stub in an eloquent roundness, eyes looking up in thought.

**Two, if you really care for Anette, you would snap out of this 'I let her down' stage and get out there and save her.** The words themselves were a bit harsh, but it didn't sound quite so bad in Aeris's gentle, caring tone. **The sword your father mentioned. It splits into seven and circles the enemy. The wielder speeds from sword to sword in inhuman speed, striking with one, changing it out for another and striking again, continuing the pattern till the enemy can take no more. When Cloud fought Sephiroth for a second time, he used this attack and defeated him, thank the planet. But this will definitely help in this fight. You must be strong Kai. You must go forward and not look back. Your path demands it. **

"You think I CHOSE this path?!" Kai asked bewilderedly. "You think I WANTED to leave home and risk my life? I did then…I wanted more then anything to save my homeland. But…Anette could be dead now. I just want to have this all end!"

**Does the walker choose the path or the path the walker?**

Kai couldn't answer that. He didn't know how. He looked back upand answered, "Both. I chose this path in the beginning, but the path urged me on without my choice, even when I wanted to turn back."

Aeris smiled purely in his mind, showing her luminous straight, teeth. **Do not stop, do not tarry. Don't look back and do not stray from the path. Take those words to heart and you'll hang in there well enough. Time for me to go, unfortunately. Send my love to everybody. And remember; dwelling on past mistakes only prevents one from moving forward; if you love Anette, then stop beating yourself up for letting her down and make it up by saving her. Good bye and good luck! **She waved and a flash hit his mind. She had vanished. He opened his eyes and glanced at the sun rise with a new determined look in his eyes. He re-averted them to the sword lying next to him, incomplete with the two parts of it taken out, but still perfectly usable.

_I'm coming Anette…I promise_ Kai thought fiercely, picking up the sword and trying to get used to the lighter weight to it. He stood there all morning, practicing, getting used to the blades weight, preparing materia, provisions, everything he or Anette could possibly need for the rescue and battle. All the while memories flashed in his mind constantly – all of Anette.

Oo00oO (Cid's 1st person POV (if you're reading, keep this dialogue out of reach of children XD!)

I huffed in some air in my damn aching lungs as I steered the Highwind to starboard, out to where the wind would take us to that fking insane idiot Sephiroth. Aw hell, my shity ass lungs ain't gonna help me much longer, might as well spend m'last times worth while. I don't give an fking dog's ass what Cloud and his damn kid tells me, I'm gonna die pretty soon anyways.

I'll just ask them to tell Shera that…aw hell, screw this; I gotta concentrate on fking breathing.

Just hope what I plan won't go to fking waste.

Oo00oO (Tifa's POV 1st person)

I sat patiently in the bridge a few yards away from Cid, carefully packing the proper materia, bandages, armor, anything we could possibly need. Usually I would go to the infirmary to do this, but with Cid's persistent attitude that he HAD to come even when he should be in bed, I decided it would be better off if I just packed everything here instead incase the old coot had a heart attack…no offense to him.

But this whole business worries me…not only killing Sephiroth, but saving Anette. I'm the best medic in AVALANCHE since Aeris passed away, the planet bless her. If I can't save her, hell, nobody can, and I'm starting to get dubious that I can pull through…but I can't just think like that. I just want my mind to make its' self up so I can stop all this worrying.

Whatever happens, I just hope nobody dies….except for Sephiroth that is.

Oo00oO (Nanaki's regular POV, last one (Barrett I decided didn't have a major enough role in this to get his own POV thing, but I'm putting him in this dialogue. Sorry Barrett fans!)

Nanaki sat calmly by Barrett, watching the man run around, cursing as he searched around for his gun arm upgrade.

"Where the fk is my damn gun arm upgrade!?" Barrett yelled, pushing over a desk in his barracks, papers flying to and fro. Nanaki's nose twitched in irritation.

"Why don't you check the armory you fool?" Nanaki said a little harsher than he meant. Barrett grunted.

"What's got you tail in a knot?"

"What do you think!?"

"Red, nobody could do anything once that damn insane fool Sephiroth got his claws on her. get the hell over that and get ready."

"I AM ready. And it's not just Anette"

Barrett quirked up an eyebrow. "Then what is it?"

"The planet is crying," Nanaki responded wisely, his earring tinkling as they bumped into his constantly fidgeting ears.

"It's pleading us, begging us to save Anette. It's as if she has some strength that Sephiroth knows about and wants to take for his own. The constant crying of the planet and why Sephiroth would kill her seems to link together, but how? It's maddening just trying to delve this deep!"

Barrett scratched his head. "Howd'ya knows they're linked?"

Nanaki sighed and began explaining. "Alright. First thing, Anette is part Ancient, The only one with enough Ancient blood in her to call Holy, or something even more powerful. He might be able to control that power for himself if he works things right. Aeris was a full ancient though, and she had too strong a will to tame, which is why he killed her. Not only because she was a threat, but because her will to keep her friends alive were too strong a chain to break. True, Anette has just as strong of a will, but she is not a pure ancient, so he would be able to tame her power easier; hence why he can invade her mind so easily. He can literally link their minds long enough to whisper words of torture to waver the chain, make her fear weld her will so its links become easier to break. The planet knows this, so it cries out in urgency, hoping someone like me or grandfather can save it, for it knows Sephiroth's intentions."

Barrett sighed and got up. "Well, when yah put it that way, it does make some sense."

They felt the Highwind slow to a rough stop and Barrett finally found his upgrade under his bed.

"Let's go kick some ass," Barrett said, loading as many bullets as he could after putting the new upgrade on.

"Agreed," Nanaki responded.

The Highwind's landing board wasn't even a yard off the ground when Cloud came roaring out the back on his motorcycle with Tifa riding on the back. Cloud had brought two other motorcycles, one for Vincent and Yuffie, the other for Barrett, and Nanaki, Marlene, Denzel and Kai all had a hover board (like the one's in dirge of Cerberus) and kept pace with the others, though Nanaki in the end decided he would just run and keep up with the others because it was so hard to control the hover board.

Just then, an earth shattering scream erupted from the crater, and Kai had a good idea on who it was. He kicked the board into high gear and sped passed everyone, heading straight for the scream.

_Just a little longer Anette, I'm coming_ Kai thought intensely, eyes narrowed in concentration. _I promise_.

Alright! It's short, fluff based, and it sucks, I know, but I thought that this was a good idea for a chapter. Don't kill me because I haven't been updating to fast!

ichi


	9. The Final Battleepilogue

Hello everyone! Alright, to who has been patiently and impatiently (you know who you are) waiting, here it is; the end of the story. I know I am breaking a promise by saying my KH story will have to wait 'cause I got wheels turning for a new one under Naruto, but one thing you have to understand is that as a writer, it's impossible to keep promises that your plot will stay EXACTLY the same. I realize that now, and I give a whole hearted apology to those who expected KH. Well, here it is; the end of my story TT-TT.

This chapter is for my friend, whose father passed away from a heart attack of late; though one leaves us, they are still here. You just gotta dig a bit deeper.

Disclaimer: I do not own final fantasy VII (though it would be a nice Christmas present!)

Black; it was the first thing that entered Anette's mind as she slowly opened her eyes from passing out. The color of her fate. The color everyone would wear when they would go to her funeral. The color worn by the one who had MADE her pass out. She looked at the damage and grimaced in disgust at her body's condition and in pain of having to move her neck.

There were various cuts and bruises across the areas Sephiroth neglected to crush bones, leave gashes, or rashed from being thrown around. Her clothes were ripped on her body. The only thing keeping her bust from showing was ripped red fabric dyed a red-brown from dried blood. The mythril that guarded her earlier was shattered and had either crushed her lungs or left numerous cuts all over. Her guarded shorts had been so ripped; they wouldn't stay on any longer, so she was in her underwear. The boots that originally kept her calves from being damaged fell off on the way to the crater. Her arms were at her sides, beaten and useless, the nerves to weary to respond to her minds distress call to get up and get out of here.

"So you've awoken, good. T'would is a shame if you died already when I'm not even near through with you," a sickening voice Anette wished would go away sounded joyously. Too joyous to be sane.

His sword's dull blade skimmed up her leg and neared her back, sending a horrible shiver down her spine. She squeezed her eyes shut, preparing for her last distress call before she would be doomed. She heaved in a breath and screamed as loud as she could, "KAI, HELP!"

A strong wind blew, the shreds of her clothing flying away in the wind like a messenger bird carrying a horrible message, the same with her voice. Wincing as the sword punctured another place on her body she thought, _please save me. _

Oo00oO

"Look, up ahead!" Marlene pointed. A bloody, brown red shred of fabric was a few yards in front of them and closing in as it danced in the wind. Kai narrowed his eyes in concentration and snatched it before it could fade away, slowing his hover board enough for him to breathe deeply in the cloth, the familiar peach blossoms filling his nose, stained with the harsh, metallic scent of blood.

An extremely loud scream sounded not far ahead. They were getting closer and things did not look good.

"Anette!" they all simultaneously screamed, though not on purpose.

"Yuffie, hold on," Vincent told her as he completely took his hands away from the break and revved the motorcycle as fast as he could, leaning down in the wind to keep from adding wind resistance, Kai at their sides on max speed for the hover board.

"If I don't make it out alive, tell Anette I loved her for me, okay?" He yelled through the wind. Vincent nodded, understanding that he along with everyone else has a chance of dying in this.

"Don't say that," Yuffie pleaded. "Nobody will die; we can't…no, we won't."

They reached the mesa in the crater where Sephiroth was, an almost naked Anette grappled at the forearm as she used her other arm to hold what fabric she could over her bust, though her underwear was still in place. Everyone got off their vehicles quickly, weapons in tow.

"What, did I steal something from you?" Sephiroth asked in a toying manner. "Well you can have her back now; she's nearing death anyways." He bodily dropped her arm, slung his around her waist and threw Anette at the others.

"Anette!" Kai screamed, leaping forward to catch her. Her hypothermic, bone – shattered body was so numb with pain, she didn't eve have the energy to grunt with pain. Kai cradled her in his arms, pressing his ear against her heart, his eyes closing as he concentrated on listening to her heart.

Vincent stepped in front of Kai and Anette, eyes glowing a fierce red. "If you were smart, you would kill yourself right now, and save us the trouble."

Sephiroth laughed. "Did I get someone upset? Excuse me for damaging your favorite toy!"

Cloud rushed at Sephiroth with the two blades he took from the main sword.

"Cut the chat and try fighting!" He yelled, expertly blocking the Masamune, swinging once more. Kai looked up and saw Sephiroth and him in a heated fight, moving so fast he could barely keep up.

"Anette," he whispered turning his attention back to more important matters. She was alive, but only barely. Kai felt a hand on his shoulder as Tifa said, "I'll take care of her; you get out there and help your father." Kai nodded, not needing to look up to express his thanks. He left a light, loving kiss on Anette's forehead, cradling in his arms one last time before whispering to her, "I love you" and proceeding to get up, take out his sword and join the others in fighting.

Vincent, however, could not fire off his bullets even if he wanted to. Cloud might get shot in the process, and with Kai in the way too, it would be impossible. However, Yuffie and Nanaki were not stopped by it. Yuffie spun to gain momentum and threw her Conformer as hard as she could. Sephiroth only barely ducked in time, half his hair being shaved off. Nanaki leapt forward and bit down on his sword arm hard, only to be thrown off, whimpering as he hit the ground.

"Vincent!" Yuffie called to him as she caught her Conformer. "Go help Tifa with Anette! It's too dangerous to fire off bullets right now, and I'm sure help will be needed!"

Vincent sighed. "Fine, but I need to get at least a few rounds in him after what he's done. Look at Anette! She's in worse condition then you were in when you fell from the mountain!"

"Which is why she needs your help," Yuffie retorted clearly. Vincent seethed for a moment before he felt her gentle hand on his forearm.

"Don't worry; if I get too weary, we can trade out and you can put as many holes in him as you want," Yuffie said, offering a weak smile. They exchanged a quick kiss before Yuffie went towards Sephiroth and Vincent ran back to Anette.

"This doesn't look good," Tifa said worriedly as Vincent approached. "She needs to get to a hospital; all I can do is stop her bleeding for now, so she won't bleed to death. It feels like she's dropping in a coma…believe me, I know that feeling. But she has to get out of here and I mean NOW."

Vincent kneeled down and cradled his daughter's head in his lap, his organic hand gently caressing one cheek, his midnight hair with a few stray white strands whipping in the wind as he took off his headband and carefully tied it around her head to keep her hair from getting into the wounded areas.

"I'll get 'er outa here, but yah owe me one, yah bastards!" Cid's voice sounded clearly as he came into view.

"Take one of the motorcycles; they'll get you to a hospital fastest," Tifa instructed. Cid nodded and carefully picked up Anette and put her on the seat in front of him.

"There is a town nine miles north of us," Vincent told him as he figured his arms around the poor girl and on the handlebars. "They should have a hospital. Once you get there, tell them that Anette needs immediate care. If they refuse it, they have ME to answer to. Good luck and good wind."

"Ah, don't get yer sorry asses killed, yah hear!?" He called as he turned on the engine and sped up the crater, northbound for the nearest hospital.

"Now then Vincent, I say we go give Sephiroth some hell," Tifa said, a cold grin on her face. He nodded and loaded in his most powerful bullets before charging forward with Tifa.

"Where's Anette?" Kai called when Cloud blocked and swung to leave a gash on Sephiroth's leg. Vincent aimed and carefully fired a bullet into Sephiroth's forearm.

"Cid is taking her to the nearest hospital; her bones are shattered. If we use materia now, they will heal deformed. They have to be reassembled before we can use any spells."

"Well then uncle, I say we give this ass hole some pay back," Kai said with a wry smile as he upper swung and Sephiroth dodged, though stumble from the gash on his leg. The battle was obviously taking a toll.

"I whole heartedly agree; just leave me to put at least fifty rounds in him," Vincent said angrily.

Yuffie's conformer hit Sephiroth's leg joint, causing enough of a delay for Kai to push his father out of the way and Vincent opened fire on him, reloading and re-firing in less then a second.

When the smoke cleared, Sephiroth had dozens of holes in him; dotting his torso and arms, his legs and neck, anywhere there was room for a hole, one was made. Yet through all of that, Sephiroth chuckled, rolling into laughter.

"You blind idiots! You think just gunshots alone will defeat me!? I took that Ancient's blood and drank some! I cannot be stopped so easily!!!"

His body started glowing white hot, almost blinding all who saw. He screamed and wings ripped out from all over him, hiding his body as he transformed.

They suddenly burst open, sending a shockwave through the air. All of the sudden, they were floating in another dimension, the kaleidoscope of colors churning around them.

"Ah, shit, he's in his final form," Barrett yelled, reloading bullets into his gun arm as Vincent did to Death Penalty.

Cloud took up his former role as leader and started assigning positions. "Barrett, Denzel, Yuffie and Vincent, get a distance out and attack the left side! Marlene, Nanaki, come around his right side and cast magic on him! Tifa, Kai, come up front with me, we're going to hold him off so the others can attack safely. If someone gets hurt and there is a lack on one side, someone else go to that side and keep things even. Go!"

Everyone sped to the places assigned, Denzel and Marlene bumping into each other along the way. They grasped forearms, Marlene's eyes betraying her otherwise calm demeanor.

"Promise me you'll stay alive," Marlene pleaded. Denzel kissed her short and hard.

"Only if you do," he responded. They quickly hugged and went where they were supposed to.

"You betta have been good to my lil' girl, or I'll be shootin' you when I'm done with Sephiroth, you hear me boy!?" Barrett told Denzel gruffly after witnessing the moment between Marlene and Denzel.

"Yes sir, I have," Denzel said after a prominent gulp. He drew three arrow's feathers across his mouth and then knocked all three, aiming for the vital points; throat, eyes, and heart. He let them fly and they found their targets with ease.

"Whoa! I wanna learn to do that!" Yuffie said enthusiastically after throwing Conformer, gashes coming across Sephiroth's chest.

"I could say the same to you!" Denzel said, knocking more arrows after running them in his mouth so they would go astray to the right places.

The battle wore on; swords were swung, bullets shot, spells unleashed, injuries given. Finally, they had done it, after spending hours fighting, sometimes only barely surviving an attack only to be raised up by a Restore materia.

"Father, throw your swords in the air!" Kai yelled to him over the battle noise.

"What, why?" Cloud responded, confused.

"Just do it!"

Cloud sighed. "Don't get yourself killed."

Cloud heaved and threw his swords high in the air. Kai jumped up, the other swords within his jumping out to circle Sephiroth. He slashed as he sped from sword to sword almost in a never ending dance, slash, change out, slash, and on and on till the end of time; at least, that's what it felt like. Finally he fell, the swords puncturing the ground below, Kai dropping, heavy breathed, one sword still in hand. The kaleidoscope of colors vanished and they were back where they belonged, on their planet.

Sephiroth's final form faded, leaving a very bloody cut up Sephiroth they fought earlier. He fell to the ground, blue light evaporating from his body.

"you," Sephiroth said, glaring up at Cloud. "I hope you rot in hell for every second after you die."

"I'm the one who did the final attack," Kai said stepping forward. Sephiroth choked as he coughed up more blood. "And it is by my hand you will die, you damned bastard. But before you do, know this: if you even try to force back into life and hunt down ANY of my friends and family, I will not hesitate to kill you. Slowly and painfully." And with that said, he strode forward and stabbed Sephiroth in the heart. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he died. He was dead.

"Let's hurry to the hospital Cid took Anette to," Vincent said. "Yuffie and I can share a hover board."

"So can me and Denzel," Marlene added. She looked across to Denzel. After seeing his relieved smile, she rushed up, and clung to him, not looking to let go any time soon.

"You kept your promise," she whispered happily. Denzel chuckled.

"You expected me not to?"

"Well…" Marlene faltered eyes downcast. "You don't know WHAT to expect with Sephiroth, and I was scared. Not of him, but of what he might have done to you…"

"It's really a heart warming moment, but if you don't mind, could you continue this on the way to the hospital?" Kai asked gently. They nodded, remembering that they had to see Anette and got on the hover board, Denzel taking the controls with his feet, hugging Marlene to him with his arms.

Yuffie got in front, only to be hugged from behind by Vincent. "Don't want you falling off, now do we?" Yuffie smiled weakly, but her eyes betrayed her.

"She will survive Yuffie; the hospital there is a good one, Anette is in good hands."

Yuffie nodded, but a tear couldn't help but escape her eye. Vincent kissed her neck tenderly, breaking away from her only to shift control on the board.

The miles between them and the hospital were covered quickly, questioning looks coming from the people in the lobby at the large band of armed men and woman that were looking for an extremely injured girl.

"Um, she is in the emergency room number ten, down the hall to the left." The clerk informed them. "But before you go, I think you ought to know this; the man who brought the girl here died as soon as he knew she was in good care."

Everyone was shocked. "No…" Tifa whispered. "No! God damn idiot! I TOLD him before we left he was too weak! I TOLD him he would die if he put too much strain on his lungs…"

They all walked onward to the surgery room Anette was being operated on, Kai gazing through the window to see her beat up form being carefully cut open, to see them put her bone pieces together and use materia to make them whole, and move on to the next part of her body.

But Cid's death still hurt. Even with the hope that Anette would pull through, they still missed him. He had sacrificed himself, just to save Anette. Call him foolish if you will, but every member of AVALANCHE honored him as a hero from that day on.

Hours later, the operators came out of the room, Anette's skin and bandages all back where it should be.

Kai immediately got up and asked, "How is she doing? Will she pull through?"

The surgeon sighed. "It depends if her will is strong enough; she is in a coma and may take months to recover. We were able to repair her bone and organ damage, but she has experience malnutrition and hypothermia as well. She may live, but it will take time."

Kai lowered his head to the ground before asking, "Can I go in and see her?"

He nodded and Kai burst in the door and was immediately at her side. Vincent and Yuffie stepped up to go in and the surgeon said, "I thought I said he could go in, not you two." Vincent glared down at him.

"Will you deny me my right to see my daughter when she is like this!?" That shut him up quick. "Thank you."

They entered to see Kai sitting by her, gently stroking her hair. Vincent and Yuffie went to her other side, Vincent resting one hand on her shoulder.

"I'm staying in this town with her until she wakes up," Kai said, eyes unwavering from her. Vincent and Yuffie exchanged glances. "Will you be alright out here on your own Kai?" Yuffie asked.

"As long as she is alive, I will be fine."

Vincent sighed. "I'll tell the others; we'll keep in touch on a day to day basis mind you. Take good care of her."

He and Yuffie exited and spoke with the others. They all nodded, and came in the room to wish their good luck.

"Hey man, you be good out here, 'ight?" Denzel said, gripping his forearm in a mutual good bye.

"Don't scare your parents, alright?" Tifa said, giving him a hug. Barrett just said, "Don't die out here." Kai sighed. Probably still grief stricken from his best friend dying.

Nanaki nuzzled him and Anette's hand affectionately. "May the planet watch over both of you." Cloud came last.

"It was a hard battle with Sephiroth; I am proud of you. Take the Gil we brought with us and use that to get your roots in. Just be safe."

Father and son exchanged a quick hug before Cloud dug in his pack and pulled out provisions. "Until you can get roots in here, this is all I can offer for now. If you need money, ring us up and we'll send someone with a care package."

Kai nodded. "Take care you guys," he said. They all bade their last goodbyes and left Kai and Anette alone.

"Well, love, looks like I'm stuck here a while," He said to Anette even if she couldn't hear him. He didn't care. As long as she was alive, he didn't care. He loved her.

end

Epilogue Oo00oO

"Alright Kai, you're assigned to Miss Valentine's room today," The head nurse said, her pen tapping the clipboard. Kai smiled and nodded, going off to Anette's room before another word slipped from the nurse's mouth.

Kai had gotten a job at the hospital evidently so he could stay close to Anette; and occasionally he would be assigned to her room, when he had to keep her fresh and clean; brushing teeth and hair and bathing, though he was always extremely carefully never to look. He would not violate Anette's privacy, coma or no. But he was still happy that he worked so close to her. On his breaks he would come into her room and talk to her, telling her of his day, how things were at home, anything he thought she would want to know. Even if she doesn't answer back, he knows she's listening.

He quietly slipped into her room, his eyes taking in her form as she slept silently, hands resting on her stomach. He closed the door and sat by her, placing a soft kiss on her forehead like he does every morning.

"Hello love," Kai said, taking the hair brush out of the night stand and beginning his work. Today wasn't a wash day, so he wouldn't have to worry about that. He just gently and slowly put it through her hair, taking care to not pull out as many hairs. Even though some would taunt him for being a nurse and learning to brush a girls' hair, he couldn't care less. As long as it was Anette he was caring for, he didn't mind in the least.

Though his head was downcast, so he didn't see her eyelids flicker. They flickered once more, only this time he saw them. Kai held his breath, stopping his soft brushing. Finally, after a few long, agonizing minutes, she groaned and threw open her eyelids, the gentle red grey orbs blinking as they got used to being used once more. Kai couldn't believe it. She was awake.

"Kai?" She said hesitantly, as if she was confused on where she was.

"Anette!" He yelled and before she could say another word, he pressed his lips against hers in a fierce kiss, pulling her to him as tight as he could, heart soaring.

Anette, still weary, just gently put her arms around his neck, a mere fraction of what she wished she could do. She felt so…amazing from this one kiss, as if time itself, impatient as it is, decided to stop and linger around this moment, to enraptured by it's purity to move on.

Finally, almost reluctantly, they broke apart, foreheads resting against one another. "your awake," Kai whispered, a tear of joy escaping him. "I was afraid you might…well, you know."

"Aeris saved me," Anette said, snuggling closer to Kai. "She gave up the ability to commune with us to save my life. But right now I'm just glad to be alive! Sephiroth, he…he tortured me so much. I felt like giving up, just dying so I wouldn't have to have an endless nightmare…"

"Anette, I wouldn't let you die; even if it meant going and rotting in the last level of hell, I will never let you die."

She gazed in his eyes lovingly. "I love you."

"And I you."

And as they kissed once more, they thought back to when this whole thing began. When they were all sighing and asking themselves, "Don't they ever learn?"

The real end

Thanks everyone! This was a fun fic, to write, but it is over. You have all been the best reviewers I could ask for.

Merry Christmas,

Ichi


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